We Need You
by AutonomicRogue
Summary: Natasha is sent to recruit Steve for the Avengers Initiative to help fight Loki. She decides that the best way to do it is to be completely honest with him about the events leading up to Loki's arrival, setting the foundation for what later blossoms into something neither one of them expected.
1. Chapter 1

I've been playing around with this idea of what would have happened if Natasha had been sent to recruit Steve for the Avengers instead of Banner. Also, this fic completely omits the idea of Banner/Nat ever being a thing because let's be honest, that was weird. Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

"Barton's been compromised." The words rang out through Natasha's mind as she sat on the Quinjet. The Tesseract had been stolen, Barton had been compromised, and now she had to help execute Fury's vision of bringing together a group of remarkable people to help protect the Earth. She'd known about this idea for a while now, it was why she had been sent to study Tony, to see if he would be fit for the "Avengers Initiative." However, she didn't think that it would happen so soon. They hardly even had a team in mind and that "team" was dependent on all of the members actually joining. Natasha sighed and dropped her head back against the wall.

"Agent Romanoff, we will be landing on the helicarrier in 2 minutes," the pilot shouted from the cockpit.

Natasha stood up and walked over to where the ramp would open for her to exit. She would be meeting with Coulson, Fury, and Agent Hill when she arrived to be briefed on the situation. She knew that they would want her to help assemble the team, but she wasn't sure which member she would be assigned.

When the plane finally landed, Natasha stepped off the ramp and walked directly to the meeting room.

"Agent Romanoff, please, sit down," Agent Hill said whenever Natasha walked into the room.

Natasha took a seat slightly in from the door. It was a habit for her to pick somewhere where she could keep one eye on an exit in case she needed it.

"As Agent Coulson told you on the phone, Barton's been compromised. At 2400 hours, an unknown person seemed to use the Tesseract as a portal to get to Earth," Agent Hill began.

"We weren't aware that it was possible at the time," Agent Coulson added.

"Well obviously it was," Natasha replied, her annoyance painting her voice.

"We asked the unknown person to stand down, however, they refused, announcing himself as 'Loki of Asgard.' Professor Selvig identified him as the brother of Thor. Loki then engaged with the agents in the room. Agent Barton engaged with Loki when a scepter was used to somehow mind control Agent Barton into helping him. Loki had also done the same to Professor Selvig. At this point, both Director Fury and myself engaged, attempting to prevent the person from leaving, however, he got away," Hill finished.

"We need to implement the Avengers Initiative," Fury declared, turning to face the table for the first time since Natasha had walked into the room, "and I need you to help me get the recruits."

Natasha nodded, attempting to compartmentalize the fact that her partner and friend had been taken by a complete psychopath. _God, Laura must be a wreck,_ she thought to herself.

"We'll need you to talk to the big guy," Coulson said.

"Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me," Natasha smirked.

"Oh no, I've got Stark, you've got the big guy," Coulson replied.

Natasha furrowed her brows, "then who's got the other one?"

"I do," Fury said, beginning to walk towards the door.

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think that's a good idea."

Fury stopped, turning to face Natasha, "and why not?"

"He doesn't trust you," Natasha stated.

"Oh, he doesn't?" Fury challenged.

"No sir," she responded, sure of her answer.

"Are you going to elaborate, Agent Romanoff?"

"The simulation. You tried to trick him once, he's going to think that you're trying to do it again. You've read his file just like the rest of us. He values honesty. Truth and justice and all that crap. He needs someone that he can trust," Natasha said.

"And you really think that you're the one for that job, Romanoff?" Fury replied. Natasha couldn't blame him, she was a spy after all. She'd done _so_ many bad things in her life. She had so much red in her ledger that she has been trying desperately for _years_ to wipe out.

"I do. I think that I have this sir," Natasha stared him down. "I think that you should take Stark and Coulson should take the big guy. Coulson's friendlier than I am anyway, you know that Banner will appreciate that."

Fury looked over at Hill and Coulson who were both looking back at him intently, waiting to hear his decision. "Very well Romanoff, you want him, you've got him," he said after a moment.

Natasha stood up from the table, "great. Then if we're done here, there's something that I need to grab before I leave."

"What's that?" Hill asked as Natasha walked towards the door.

"My file," Natasha replied as she disappeared through the doorway.

* * *

Natasha walked up to the gym, it was definitely older than most of the gyms around the area, but she could see the appeal of it. It was 0300 hours and there wasn't another person in sight. Natasha opened up the front door, hiking the gym bag that she was toting higher up on her shoulder, and began to walk in to the building. She stood at the entrance to the sparing room for a moment watching him, he was intently focused on the punching bag that he was hitting. His punches were sharp and swift. She could see the way that his muscles moved through his shirt, rippling whenever he made contact with the bag. He drew his arm back and gave a particularly forceful punch, sending the bag careening off of the hook and busting open. He sighed, standing there for a moment.

"You sure showed that bag," Natasha quipped, stepping into view. Steve Rogers' head snapped towards where she was standing. Typically, he would have heard someone come into the gym, especially at this time of night, but the memories running through his head had pulled him so far out of his own body that he had hardly noticed.

"Yeah well, I heard it had been talking shit," Steve joked back, walking over to the busted punching bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Natasha set down her bag on a bench near the door. She watched as Steve took the broken bag over to a pile of other broken bags. Natasha couldn't help the slight upturn of her lips at the sight. She walked over to the wall where more punching bags were lined up and grabbed one, the bag nearly swallowing her petite frame. She lugged it over to the hook that Steve had been using and strung it up.

"You know, most people would be sleeping at this time of night. Not harassing punching bags," she teased.

"You spend seventy years sleeping in ice and tell me if you feel like sleeping after finally waking up," Steve replied bitterly. Natasha quirked an eyebrow at him.

"So, is that your tactic to scare people off?" She asked, "you make them think you're crazy by telling them that you were asleep for seventy years?" She stepped back from the punching bag.

"Not usually, no, but I figured that since you were from S.H.I.E.L.D., you wouldn't mind me being straightforward with you." _Coulson was right, he is good,_ Natasha thought to herself. She allowed herself to smile at him. She stepped around to the back of the punching bag, placing her hands on either side of it before peering back around at him.

"Are you going to continue using this or not? Because if not, I'd like to get some reps in if you don't mind," Natasha said. Steve furrowed his eyebrows at her, clearly trying to understand why she was there, but he put his arm out in a sweeping motion and stepped a little further away from the bag.

"Be my guest," he replied, walking over to his water bottle and grabbing a drink. Natasha began punching on the bag, not hitting it as hard as she could, but still hitting it with enough force that she sent the message that she knew what she was doing. "So why are you here? Did Fury send you to make sure that I wasn't going crazy?" Steve asked after a minute. He was watching her intently.

"Not at all," Natasha replied, still working over the bag.

"Then what is it? Not to be rude, ma'am, but something tells me that you didn't just decide to come to Brooklyn at 3:30 in the morning to go to a gym that just so happens to have been here since I was a kid," Steve sat down on the edge of the bench, putting his water bottle to his side.

"Well, you're right about that. It's not a leisurely visit, though under different circumstances, I might not mind making one here," she replied. She paused for a moment to look over at him and smirk. Natasha could see him get slightly red (well, redder), at her flirting. _Easy blusher_ , she thought to herself. She'd have to file that away under useful things to know about him. "Also, don't call me ma'am. I'm Agent Romanoff, but you can call me Natasha if you'd like." She walked away from the punching bag and over to her gym bag that was lying on the bench next to Steve. She unzipped it and grabbed a file sitting on the top, she opened it briefly, making sure that it was the right thing before handing it over to him. She pushed her bag over some and sat down next to him.

"The Tesseract," he practically whispered after opening up the file.

"Mhm, it was fished out of the ocean long before we found you. They wanted to try to harness its power to be used for unlimited sustainable energy."

Steve scoffed and shook his head, "so someone stole it from you. Who?"

"His name is Loki," Natasha said. "We can talk about him more later though. He's only part of the reason why I'm here."

Steve looked over at her, "so what's the other part?"

"We're putting together a team, we think Loki means to destroy the world, we need to save it. We need you to help us do it," Natasha answered.

"You need me?" Steve asked, putting the file down and standing up.

"Every team needs a leader," Natasha explained, "who better than Captain America?"

Steve sighed, walking over to the punching bag. He began his reps on it again. Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes. Natasha kept watching his form, assessing his patterns, filing her observations away in case she ever needed them. Steve punched particularly hard once more, sending another punching bag flying off the hook and busting against the wall. He briefly looked at Natasha before walking over to pick it up. Without saying a word, Natasha walked over to the wall and grabbed another new punching bag, stringing it up once more before he got back.

"You were there, weren't you?" Steve asked, his voice sounding much smaller than it had a few minutes ago.

"When they pulled you out of the ice? Yes."

"No, the simulation room," Steve said. Natasha resisted the urge to swallow hard.

"Yes."

Steve nodded. "You let me go."

"I did," Natasha affirmed.

"Why?" He asked.

Natasha inhaled deeply. She could easily lie to him, but that wasn't going to get her anywhere with him. He would know, she knew he would know. Something about him screamed "human lie detector," and she was good, she knew she was good, but she didn't want to run the risk of him being better.

"When you were pulled out of the ice," Natasha began, "they weren't even sure that you were going to make it. We spent days trying to thaw you out, when they finally did, Director Fury insisted that we put you in a simulation room. It was for multiple reasons, some of which seemed reasonable, others just seemed…cruel." Natasha walked over to the new punching bag and began hitting on it. "For starters, everyone was concerned with how you would react to waking up in a new century. A valid concern, I might add. So, an idea was pitched to put you in a room where everything resembled the time period that you came from. Ultimately, the majority of the people decided that it was the best idea. Then, Fury came up with the idea to see just how good your skills were. What would happen if you woke up and things weren't exactly right? So, the idea was pitched to put inconsistencies in the room. Things that would hint to you that something wasn't right. Depending on how quickly you noticed them, it would tell Fury just how good you were. If you didn't notice them, then the idea was placed that we should keep you in simulation for as long as possible before you figured out that something was wrong. It could have been as little as a few days to as long as, well, the rest of your life really. I disagreed, but they didn't listen to me. They did, however, ask me to be there if you were to freak out, be someone to subdue you." She moved her eyes over to him for a moment, seeing that he was watching her closely, taking in every word that she said. She put her focus back on the punching bag before continuing once more, "when you woke up and you quickly noticed that something was wrong, I was dispatched to stop you from leaving the building."

"But you didn't," Steve interjected.

"But I didn't," Natasha echoed. "I was about to, but when I saw you, something in me just wouldn't let me do it. I'm used to following orders, but for some reason, I just…couldn't. I knew that if I stopped you and they contained you, there was still a chance that they would lie to you about the extent of the situation. I figured that if I let you get out the door, see everything around you, the less that they could potentially lie to you about. So, I made a different call."

Steve nodded, taking in all of the information that she had just given him. "Why should I trust you, Natasha?" He asked after a moment. Natasha quit hitting on the punching bag and brought her shirt up to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She noticed that whenever she did, Steve quickly averted his eyes. _What a gentleman._ She walked over to her bag once more and pulled out another file. This one thicker than the last. She didn't say anything when she pulled it out, she simply walked over to him and handed it to him. "What's this?" He asked.

"My file."

He looked up from it, his eyebrows knitted together, "why are you giving me this?"

"Because I'm a spy," Natasha said. "My words mean nothing, but my file will tell you anything and everything that you want to or need to know about me. I've read yours, so I feel it's only fair that you read mine if you want to, but I'm warning you that you might not like me very much after you read what's inside."

Steve looked down at the file in his hands once more, "what did my file say?"

Natasha smiled, "well, quite a bit actually, but one of the most important things was that you value honesty. Which is a lot of the reason why I'm giving you that," she gestured towards the file. "It would be easy for me to lie to you and standing here telling you the truth is…difficult to say the least, but you need to hear it because I need you to trust me. It also said that you have a strong sense of duty, if you feel like people need you, which for the record, we very much do, you'll be there. However, you also have a strong sense of what's right. Which is why if Fury had come here, I believe that you would have said no to joining because you would have been afraid that it wasn't right."

Steve chuckled a little bit, "well, I've never really been a big fan of bullies."

"I read that in your file too," Natasha replied, smirking. Steve gave her a smile back.

"So, who all is apart of this team?" He asked.

"Currently, Bruce Banner, he's a scientist. I have his file for you to look over if you would like. Tony Stark,-"

"Wait, Stark? Like Howard Stark?" Steve's mouth practically fell open. "Howard had a son?"

Natasha laughed, "he did. Don't worry, they're quite similar." Steve ran his hand through his hair, taking in the idea that the self-proclaimed bachelor actually ended up settling down.

"Wow."

"Mhm," Natasha hummed in response, walking over to the punching bag once more. She began hitting it with her full strength, making more complex combinations of punches, adding kicks, and making the bag swing back and forth with the force. "Clint Barton, another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent" she said, punching the bag particularly hard at the thought of what had happened to him. She grunted as she jumped up into the air and kicked the bag clean off of the hook. She breathed heavily for a moment before turning around to face him, "and me." Steve smiled at her. "So, if nothing else, you have at least one person on this team that you can trust."

Steve hit the file against his hand while he walked over to the bench where the other file was. He set it down before turning back to Natasha, "well, it sounds like we need to get started."

Natasha smiled at him before walking over, "glad to have you aboard, Cap." She gathered her things together while he did the same. She was just about to zip up her bag when he handed her file back to her. She looked at him, confusion painting her face.

"Keep it," he said, "I trust that you'll tell me what I need to know when I need to know it." Natasha felt her heart flutter slightly, quickly shaking off the feeling.

"Absolutely," she replied.

They began to walk out of the gym together, "plus, something tells me that's not all of it." He raised an eyebrow at her challengingly.

"You're a fast learner, Captain," she smirked. He threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

 **[4 YEARS LATER]**

Steve walked into the Avengers lounge area to see Natasha sitting on the couch flipping through the channels. He smiled at the sight of her, sitting back and taking in her features.

"Are you just going to stand there and look at me, or are you going to join me?" Natasha teased, turning and smirking at him.

Steve laughed, walking over to sit down next to her. "Sorry, I was entranced with your beauty," he replied as he leaned down to kiss her.

She hummed at the sensation, "you're lucky you're so irresistible, Rogers."

"I know," he said against her lips, a slight smile turning up the corners of his. He sat down beside her and threw his arm around her, allowing her to cuddle up beside him. He kissed the top of her head, taking in the scent of her shampoo. He chuckled a little bit, thinking of the first time that they'd officially met.

"What?" Natasha asked, her emerald green eyes looking up at him.

"I was just thinking about when you came to recruit me for the Avengers," he replied, running his fingers through her hair. A small smile danced on her lips.

"Seems like a lifetime ago, huh?"

He took in a deep breath, "it does." They were quiet for a moment before a thought dawned on Steve. "Hey, Nat?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember all that stuff that you said to me about when they brought me out of the ice, about wanting me to be able to trust you, were you serious about all of that?" He asked.

Natasha pulled away from him slightly, "I'm surprised that you even have to ask," she said. He was about to apologize to her before she continued on, "though you've never really been all that good at telling when someone's flirting with you." He laughed and pulled her in for another kiss.

"Normal people don't flirt like that," he murmured against her lips, earning him a playful shove before she returned the kiss with equal fervor.


	2. Chapter 2

So I got a lot of requests on here, as well as on AO3 to make this into a multi-chaptered fic, so here it is. These next chapters will cover some of the main events that lead up to the flashforward that is at the end of chapter 1. I hope you guys like it! Please continue to let me know what you think :)

* * *

After the Battle of New York, all the Avengers had gathered to see off Thor as he took Loki and the scepter back to Asgard. After Thor left, the others began to leave, each one entering a different life than before. Natasha was standing over by Clint who had just told her his plans to take time off in order to stay home with Laura and the kids, as well as to get his mind right after everything that happened with Loki.

"You've gone soft, Barton," she teased. "Tell Laura and the kids that Auntie Nat says hi and that she loves them."

"I'm the one that's gone soft?" Clint ribbed. Natasha gave him a slight shove. She looked over at Steve who was checking over his Harley.

"You mind waiting here for a few minutes?" Natasha asked Clint.

"Not a problem," he replied, leaning back against the car.

"Be right back," she called over her shoulder as she strolled over to where Steve was. Steve looked up from his motorcycle and smiled at her.

"So, Rogers, now that we've saved the world, what are you going to do? Go to Disney World?" Natasha quipped, raising her eyebrow at him.

"What? Disney World?" Steve asked as he furrowed his brows.

"In the ice for 70 years, right, I forgot." Natasha shook her head and smiled at him. Steve chuckled.

"I did see a couple of Disney movies when I was a kid, have you ever heard of _Dumbo_? That's a good one," he flashed her a bright smile.

"Everyone's heard of _Dumbo_ , Rogers, we're really going to have to get you a list going of things you missed," Natasha replied.

Steve lifted an eyebrow and smiled, leaning back against his motorcycle, "I don't know. I guess I'm going to go back to Brooklyn, wait to be needed again. Try to live a semi normal life," Steve replied.

"Normal's overrated."

"Maybe so, but I don't really know what else I would do." Natasha nodded and crossed her arms, she looked off to the right for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"You know, we made a pretty good team out there today," she said after a moment.

"We did," Steve agreed, giving her a small smile.

"Well, it just so happens that I'm in the market for a new partner. My previous one needs to take some time off. I guess something about being mind controlled doesn't sit too well with him," Natasha teased, looking over her shoulder at Clint who was still leaning against the car, waiting for her. She was only partially joking however, she knew that he was really shaken up over the whole ordeal, and if she was being honest with herself, she was a little shaken up over it too. "Seeing as how we made a good team,-" she turned back to face Steve who seemed confused.

"You want me to be your partner?" He asked, his eyebrow raised slightly.

Natasha nodded, "If you want to be. You definitely need some more training, but I can train you. The partner work we've already got a pretty good handle on, so it's more just undercover work, and cleaning up our partner work, and getting you up to speed on technology, since you're a fossil," she winked at him before continuing, "You would have to move to D.C., but when I joined, Fury and Clint helped get me set up in an apartment there, and I'm positive Fury would do the same for you." Steve looked at her, clearly trying to sort through what she was telling him. "I know how you feel about S.H.I.E.L.D. and about Fury, but,-"

"I'm in," Steve interrupted. Natasha had to hide her shock, she honestly didn't think that it was going to be that easy to convince him.

"You are?" She asked.

Steve nodded, "yeah, I'm in. Like you said, normal's overrated. I was frozen in ice for 70 years before I woke up in a different century, I don't even know what normal would look like for that. Plus, if I go back I have to spar by myself, it could be kind of nice to have a partner." Natasha resisted the urge to smile.

"Well, I suppose, if you're in to getting your ass kicked," Natasha teased.

"You know, I take that as a challenge, Romanoff," Steve joked back. They smiled at each other for a moment before Steve spoke again, "in all seriousness, I'm in. Am I wary of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Yes. But the same thing goes for this as it did when you came to recruit me for the Avengers."

Natasha quirked an eyebrow, "which is?"

"I'll have at least one person on the team that I trust."

Natasha couldn't help the way her stomach flipped a little bit when he said that. She wasn't used to being the person that people trusted, especially not someone like Steve Rogers. "You know, you might regret that, Cap," she said, appearing nonchalant for the most part, but Steve knew he saw a hint of something else in her eyes, even if just for a moment.

"No," he replied, shaking his head, "I don't think so."

Natasha looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling very exposed. When she looked up again, Steve was staring at her, his ocean blue eyes seemingly piercing right through her.

"Why don't you come with me to Brooklyn so I can pack up my stuff, and then help me apartment hunt when we get to D.C.?" Steve said. "I should probably get to know my partner at least a little bit better outside of the field if our partnership is going to work." Natasha pursed her lips, as she mulled the idea over. She really should say no, she should just get in the car with Clint and take him to the extraction point so he can go home, but she also found herself really wanting to say yes.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay?" Steve replied, seeming surprised by her acceptance of his offer.

"It could be fun. We could start putting together that list of things you missed," Natasha shrugged, giving him a slight smile.

Steve chuckled, "alright then." He grabbed the helmet off of his bike and handed it to her. She looked down at it in her hands her eyebrows knitted together, "it's a helmet, it goes on your head," he quipped.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "ha ha, Rogers, very funny. Give me a second, I've got to go say goodbye to Clint." She handed the helmet back to him and he set it on the seat before continuing to check over his bike.

"Hey, so change of plans,-" Natasha said as she walked up to Clint.

"You're going with Rogers," Clint finished. "Damn Tash, you really replaced me right in front of my face." He shook his head and her before cracking a smile.

"You're so dramatic Barton."

"I'm just teasing. I'm glad you'll have him in the field with you. You need someone to keep you in check," Clint got in the car and started the engine.

"Mhm, like I have to do for you all the time," Natasha ribbed. Clint let out a hearty laugh.

"Tash," he turned and looked at her, his tone changing, "let him in. I'm positive you won't regret it." Natasha was just about to feign ignorance when he revved the engine, "I'll let you know when I make it home. Have fun!" Natasha watched for a moment as he sped off. He was probably the only person that could actually tell what she was feeling despite the mask that she put on, so she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was that he'd caught on to the inner battle she was having. She took a deep breath, centering herself once more before strolling back over to where Steve was sitting on the motorcycle.

"Ready?" He asked, handing her the helmet once more. Natasha tossed on the helmet, threw her leg over the side of the bike, and climbed up behind him. She hesitated for an almost imperceptible moment before wrapping her arms around him.

"Ready," she replied, giving him a smile as he looked over his shoulder at her.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve hit the mat with a loud _thump_. He groaned and rolled over to stand up.

"Again," Natasha commanded. Steve stepped into his defensive stance and waited for Natasha to pounce. She stood there for a moment, her expression indifferent, and it remained that way even as she lunged at Steve. He was always impressed with how little she gave away about her moves and intentions. He would argue that it was her deadliest weapon. Even as a super soldier Steve had trouble keeping up with her at times. He would feel like he had control of the fight one moment, and the next he was flat on his back. He matched Natasha's attacks, blocking her hits, defending against her kicks, and even getting in a few jabs here and there. He never went completely out whenever they were sparring for fear of hurting her, and even though he knew that she wasn't as breakable as she could appear to be at times, he couldn't help but pull his punches occasionally.

Natasha grunted and spun, bringing her leg up and landing a particularly nasty blow to Steve's jaw with her foot. She'd only gotten him with the top part of her foot, he couldn't imagine how much it had to hurt when she was actually trying and landed that blow with her heel. Steve staggered backward for a moment before he caught his balance just in time to dodge another blow, this time coming from her right arm. He grabbed her arm as she swung past him and used her momentum to swing her around into a chokehold. He pulled her flush against his body, her feet slightly off of the floor. "Yield," he grunted. She didn't say anything or try to tap out, so he held her there. It wasn't until she appeared to be beginning to go limp that he loosened his grip some. "Nat?" The concern in his voice was obvious. em _Did she really let herself get choked out rather than yielding? /em_

The words had no sooner come out of his mouth when Natasha pulled all of the body weight that she could upward before swinging it down. She swung it between his legs effectively getting him to release his grip on her completely. He staggered forward, and she slid on the mat behind him. As soon as she planted her toes into the mat, she pushed herself upward and sprang onto his back. Natasha wrapped her legs around his neck and began squeezing as tight as she could, taking them to the floor. Steve grabbed one of her legs and ripped it off of his neck before driving her knee against the mat and rolling out of her hold. He quickly replaced his hand with his own knee to keep her down while he climbed on top of her, setting his body weight on her midsection and raising a fist. They both stayed that way panting for a few moments before Natasha huffed, "yield." Steve smiled, dropping his fist and rolling off of her and onto his back beside her.

"How was that?" he said breathlessly.

"Better," Natasha replied. She turned her head to look at him, "but you need to stop letting up before I yield. You get yourself in trouble with it every time."

Steve furrowed his brows, "so I'm just supposed to choke you out if you don't?"

"Yes." Steve frowned, and Natasha folded her arms over her chest.

"Nat, I hope that you know that it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you're a girl," Steve said hesitantly.

"Steve, I know it's because you don't want to hurt me, not because I'm a girl. But it should be just like anyone else you were sparring against. If you were sparring against Thor, you would choke him out if he didn't yield. Do the same to me," Natasha stared him dead in the face.

"So, what I'm hearing is you like to be choked, that's pretty kinky, don't you think Romanoff?" He teased, raising an eyebrow.

She gave him a devilish grin, "well you're free to find out if you want." Steve gulped and turned an even brighter shade of red. Natasha rolled up on her side and winked at him before standing up. Steve was still laying on his back when Natasha reached her hand out to him to help him up. "You need a longer break old man, or are you ready to go again?" Steve shook his head and chuckled.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, "let's go." She pulled him up forcefully and he stumbled forward a little bit, colliding with her. His hand instinctively went to her waist to pull her closer to keep her from falling back. Natasha's breath hitched, and she could feel her heartrate speed up at their proximity. They both stood there for a few moments, neither one moving away from the other before Natasha finally took a step back.

She shook her head, "I think that's enough for today actually. You should go home and get some rest. I have some paperwork that I need to finish up from our last mission, so I'm going to go." She turned on her heel and began to walk towards the door.

"Nat, wait," Steve called, jogging to catch up to her. "Why don't you gather up all of your stuff that you still have to finish and bring it over to my place? I still have paperwork to finish too, and we can check one of those movies off of my list of things to catch up on." He gave her that smile of his that could melt even the coldest heart, "we can even order from that Indian place that you like so much." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.

"Fine, but I need to take a shower first," she said.

"You could do that at my place too, if you want," he felt his ears get red and he gave her a sheepish smile. She quirked an eyebrow at him before tackling him.

She straddled him, pinning his arms down with her knees. "What the hell Nat?" He yelped from underneath her.

She pulled a small knife off of her hip and brought it up to his neck. em _Was that there the whole time?/em_

"Who are you and what have you done with Steve Rogers?" She shouted at him.

"Nat, what are you,-"

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH STEVE ROGERS?" She screamed again, bringing the knife a little closer to his throat.

"Woah, woah, woah, Nat! It's me, it's me, Steve Rogers," he yelled.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "then tell me something that only Steve would know."

"Jesus Nat, how am I supposed to-," he was cut off by Natasha bringing the knife right up to his throat. "Alright, alright, alright. Uhh, those pajama pants that you bought me, the Black Widow ones, the ones that were made after New York because Tony insisted the Avengers needed a brand, do you remember those?"

"Yeah, what about them?" she asked, not moving an inch.

"Well, I wear them all the time. Like pretty much when they're not in the wash, I'm wearing them to laze around the apartment."

A small smirk crossed her lips. "Awh, how sweet," she teased. "Do you need to check your pants, Rogers, you look like you just shit a little bit," she began giggling as she crawled off of him.

"What the hell was that about?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

She shrugged, "I was just a little concerned. You made a sex joke earlier and now you're inviting me to get naked at your house. It's uncharacteristically Steve Rogers, sounds more like me. I guess I must just be rubbing off on you, at least in one way," she finished, winking at him. She turned to walk out to grab her stuff. Steve began laughing, stopping Natasha dead in her tracks.

"What's so funny?" She raised an eyebrow at him and narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing, go ahead and get your stuff Nat," Steve replied, still chuckling.

"Rogers, what is it?" She asked again taking another dangerous step forward. This just made Steve laugh harder as he pushed himself up off the floor.

"I just think it's funny how you think it's sweet that I wear those Black Widow ones, when I know for a em _fact/em_ because I've seen them, that you have Captain America ones that em _you/em_ wear pretty frequently," he quipped. A cocky eyebrow raised at her and the corners of his lips turned up into one of the smuggest smiles she'd even seen on his face. He stepped closer to her his lips ghosting above her ear, simultaneously giving her chills and igniting a fire through her veins that was deliciously sinful, "but what's em _really/em_ sweet about you wearing those is that I wasn't the one who bought them for you, which means, you bought them for yourself." He pulled back, smirking at her once more, "now I would say that em _that's/em_ sweet." Natasha stood there turning to watch him as he exited, her mouth slightly agape. He turned back and winked at her, "are you coming or what?"

"You know that this means war, right Rogers?" Natasha teased as she followed him out of the building.

"Fine," he replied, "but can it be war in my extremely comfortable Black Widow pajama pants?"

Natasha smiled, "I suppose, but only if I get to wear my extremely comfortable Captain America ones."

Steve laughed, "deal."

"Oh, Steve?" Natasha said after a moment.

"Hmm?" He hummed.

"You tell anyone I have those, I'll kill you."

Steve laughed, "I would expect nothing less."


	4. Chapter 4

This is a build up chapter for everything that happens on the Lemurian Star.

* * *

"Agent Romanoff, Director Fury needs to see you in his office." Natasha nodded curtly to the agent before returning to the paperwork on her desk. She quickly signed the bottom of the page before closing the file and taking it with her. The halls of the Triskellion were fairly empty for it being midday, however, most agents were out on missions or down in the training rooms. Natasha was just about to enter the elevator when she heard a familiar voice call for her. A small smirk appeared on her face, but she quickly wiped it off before turning around.

"Hey Nat," Steve said, giving her a big smile as he approached her. "Where are you off to?"

"Fury's office, I guess he needs to talk with me about something," Natasha replied.

Steve nodded, "are we still on for takeout and bad scary movies tonight?"

Natasha smiled, "absolutely, I was thinking we could order from the diner that you like so much. I'm really craving one of their milkshakes." Steve's face lit up. He was happy that she liked Roxy's Diner as much as he did. It had been there since he was a kid, so when he took her there for the first time, he was a little nervous that she wasn't going to like it, but she ended up loving it. In fact, Natasha loved it so much that going to get a milkshake from there was one of the first things that she wanted to do after getting back from a mission.

"That sounds great!" Steve looked down at his watch and winced. "Damn it, I've got to get going, Hill has me teaching a solo skills class with some of the new recruits." He walked over to the stairwell, but turned to face Natasha once more before entering it, "You'll be down later for the other classes though, right?"

Natasha nodded, "don't worry, Cap. I've got your back." Natasha winked at him before stepping into the elevator. "See you later," she called as the doors to the elevator closed.

"Floor please," a robotic voice sounded through the elevator speakers.

"Nick Fury's office," Natasha replied.

"Restricted access, please state your name."

Natasha sighed, "Agent Natasha Romanoff."

"Agent Romanoff, clearance level 7. Access granted." The elevator began moving up to Nick's floor which was at the top of the Triskellion. Natasha leaned back against the railing in the elevator. When the elevator finally stopped, the doors opened to Nick's office. She could see the top of Nick's head peeking out from the top of his chair. He was turned and facing a wall, watching footage of something that she couldn't make out.

"Agent Romanoff. Come in, sit," Fury called from where he was sitting. Natasha stepped further into the room, walking up to one of the arm chairs that was placed in front of his desk and sitting down. Fury closed the footage that he had on his screen before turning around to face Natasha.

"My report from our last mission," she said as she slid the folder onto his desk. Fury nodded. Natasha sat back in her chair. She wasn't very intimidated by Nick, at least not anymore. When she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., she was constantly on alert, waiting for someone to decide that Fury had made the wrong decision in allowing her to join. There were even times that she thought that Fury would end up turning on her, but he never did. She'd even come to think of him as almost a father figure, thought she would never admit that. "What did you need, sir," she asked after a moment.

Fury sighed, clasping his hands together and placing them on the desk. He pulled up a file that had reports from a S.H.I.E.L.D. ship that was out collecting intel. "This is the Lemurian Star," Fury started. "There have been threats by a group of mercenaries to take over the ship. As you know, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't do negotiations." Natasha nodded her head, looking over the files briefly. "If the mercenaries do decide to make good on their threats, there is the possibility for several of the crew, as well as our agents aboard the ship, to be taken as hostages. In the event that this happens, the counter-terrorism S.T.R.I.K.E. team will need to intervene and save the hostages."

Natasha furrowed her brows at him, "why are you telling me all of this, shouldn't you be briefing Rumlow? He's the leader of that team."

"He won't be leading this mission."

"He won't?" Natasha asked, her eyebrow arched.

"Captain Rogers will be leading this mission, and you will be going on this mission as well," Fury replied.

"I'm still confused, sir. If Rogers is leading the mission, then you should be debriefing him, not me."

"I will debrief him, but not until it's needed. I've called you in here because you will have a different mission," Fury stood up from his desk and walked around to the window. "There's valuable information on that ship. Information that could be detrimental to S.H.I.E.L.D. if it falls in the wrong hands. I will need to hack into the ship's mainframe and save everything that you can before the mission is complete. You will not tell anyone else about this mission."

Natasha stared at him for a moment. She wasn't supposed to tell anyone? Not even Steve? He's her Captain. Her partner. Her team leader. He was the first person that she'd been completely honest with about everything from the very beginning, and now Fury wanted her to lie to him. "Sir is there a reason why the others can't know?" Natasha asked.

Fury turned around to look at her, "they don't need to know Romanoff. The less people that know we saved that information, the better."

Natasha pushed herself up off of the chair, "sir, Captain Rogers should be made aware. He's the leader, he should know."

"No," Fury responded. "He needs to be concerned about getting the hostages off of the boat. Not worried about a side mission that I've given you or about those files." Fury walked back over to his desk and began moving files around.

Natasha stared at Fury. She knew that she had a job to do. She knew that she shouldn't question Fury's actions, but this was hardly the first time that she would go toe to toe with him over a mission that she thought should be handled in a different way. She took in a deep breath and lifted her head slightly. "Then with all due respect, I decline the mission."

Fury looked up from his desk, "Natasha. It's necessary."

"I'm not going to lie to them, Nick. If it's necessary, get someone else, because I'm not doing it."

"You're not going to lie to them or you're not going to lie to him?" Fury retorted. Natasha gritted her teeth and leaned forward, planting her hands firmly on his desk.

"What more do you want to lie to him about Nick? You wanted to lie to him when he came out of the ice. You lied to him about Coulson. You continuously lie to him about Project Insight. Now you want to lie to him about the real reason I'm going along on this mission? If there wasn't something that you were trying to hide in that data, it wouldn't matter if he knew, but there is, isn't there? You might be okay with lying to him about everything, but I'm not doing it. You want me to lie about other things, fine, but I draw the line at lying to my partner." Natasha pushed her hands off of his desk and began walking to the door.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Agent Romanoff," Fury called after her, "but this is where I pull rank. You will do the mission, as I've outlined. No one can know." Natasha stopped in her tracks. Her entire body vibrated in anger.

She huffed as she turned around to him, "yes, sir."

"You're dismissed Agent," Fury replied, looking up from his desk to meet her gaze. Natasha spun on her heel and stalked out of the room.

The doors to the elevator closed and the robotic voice came over the speakers once more, "floor please."

"Training." Every muscle in Natasha's body was focused on keeping herself in control until she got to the sparring room. When the elevator doors opened once again, Natasha began storming toward the sparing room. A few of the new recruits were walking down the hall toward the elevator but moved aside when they saw the dangerous look on her face. As they cowered in fear, Natasha noticed that they were all drenched in sweat. _They must've just gotten out of Steve's session,_ Natasha thought to herself. At the thought of Steve, she felt her anger rising back up to the surface.

Just as she was turning the corner, Steve came walking out of one of the rooms with one of the recruits. Steve was giving him tips on his form. "Agent Romanoff," Steve yelled, quickly saying goodbye to the recruit he was talking to. Natasha didn't react and kept walking. "Agent Romanoff," Steve called again, running to catch up to her. Natasha walked into the sparing room and over to begin putting tape on her hands. "Hey, Nat," Steve said, putting a hand gently on her shoulder, "are you okay?" Natasha spun on him and threw a punch. Steve dodged it quickly. "Nat, what the hell?"

"Spar with me," Natasha grunted as she threw another punch. Steve dodged it once more.

"Alright, but before I do, you have to tell me that you're okay." Steve looked at her gently, searching her eyes for some sign of what was bothering her.

Natasha stopped, keeping her face neutral. "I will be," Natasha replied. Steve nodded, standing there only a moment longer before he lunged at her.

* * *

Steve wasn't sure how long they had been sparing, but they were both dripping in sweat. It wasn't until Natasha finally pinned him that he called it. "Nat, we'd better get ready to teach that class." Natasha sighed and rolled off of the top of him. The two of them walked over and grabbed their water bottles. Steve reached out and grabbed Natasha's arm. "Nat wait." Natasha turned and faced him, her façade breaking momentarily. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Natasha gave him a small smile, "I'm always okay, Rogers." Steve sighed, but resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to talk about whatever was bothering her.

"Does that mean you're okay enough to still do milkshakes and movies later tonight?" He asked, giving her a playful push on the shoulder.

"Is there ever a bad time for milkshakes and movies?" Natasha replied, the smile on her face widening. "I wouldn't miss it."


	5. Chapter 5

This covers the events of the Lemurian Star. It's a continuation of the last chapter, but doesn't continue directly from where we left off at the end of the last chapter. Now's also a good time to remind you that I have no rights to these characters, nor do I claim to have rights to these characters. These characters are all property of Marvel and the MCU. Some dialogue in this chapter is from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I don't own any of that movie. Everything I've written has just been for entertainment purposes only!

Please enjoy & leave reviews, follow, favorite, etc!

* * *

"Get Cap and get here. The mission is on."

Natasha felt her blood run cold, "yes sir," she replied before quickly hanging up the phone. She sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, staring at the wall. Her conversation with Nick earlier in the week came back to her mind.

 _What more do you want to lie to him about Nick? You wanted to lie to him when he came out of the ice. You lied to him about Coulson. You continuously lie to him about Project Insight. Now you want to lie to him about the real reason I'm going along on this mission? If there wasn't something that you were trying to hide in that data, it wouldn't matter if he knew, but there is, isn't there? You might be okay with lying to him about everything, but I'm not doing it. You want me to lie about other things, fine, but I draw the line at lying to my partner." Natasha pushed her hands off of his desk and began walking to the door._

" _I'm sorry you feel that way Agent Romanoff," Fury called after her, "but this is where I pull rank. You will do the mission, as I've outlined. No one can know."_

She drew in a deep breath before slowly pushing herself off of the edge of the bed and quickly throwing her clothes on. She knew that Steve would be jogging over by the Washington Monument, he'd taken to doing that when he moved to D.C. and it was early enough in the morning that she knew he would still be there. She quickly ran by his apartment before heading back to her car. She hopped into her Corvette and started it up before quickly texting Steve.

 _ **Mission alert. Extraction Imminent. Meet at the curb. (:**_

It was about two minutes later when she saw Steve's figure standing by one of the trees. At the sight of him, a smile spread across her face. _Alright, Romanoff, just play it like normal. You don't know anything._ She quickly rolled down the window before stopping along the curb by where Steve was talking to someone.

"Hey Fellas," she called through the open window, "either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

Steve rolled his eyes and began walking towards the car, "that's hilarious." Natasha smirked at him.

"How you doing?" The guy from the curb called.

"Hey," Natasha replied, making it clear she wasn't interested in continuing the conversation.

Steve stopped and turned back to the guy, "you can't run everywhere," he said, shrugging as he got into the car. Natasha quickly pulled away from the curb and headed towards the Triskelion.

"Good run?"

Steve shrugged, "it was decent. Would've been better if my partner had joined me," he ribbed as he gave her a playful nudge on the arm. Natasha smiled at him.

"Well I'm sorry, some of us do actually sleep," she teased him back, "even if it's only for a few hours." Steve chuckled.

They were both quiet for a few moments before Steve spoke again, "so, do you know what this mission's about?" He turned to look at her. Natasha could feel her stomach begin to tighten into knots, she even felt a little sick as she formulated her response in her head. What was wrong with her? Lying was like second nature to her at this point, she shouldn't be thinking so hard about what she was going to say. She _really_ wanted to tell him, but she was strictly ordered by Fury not to. She couldn't break direct orders again, and she knew that Steve wouldn't be on board with her abandoning the rescue mission to collect data, especially when she wasn't really on board with it either.

"Nope, not really. He said something about a ship and hostages. He also said something about us working with the STRIKE team, but that's really all I know." God, she felt sick.

Steve nodded, "so it's straight to the jet when we get there?"

"Yeah, Rumlow's working on loading up our stuff right now and I swung by your apartment and grabbed your shield, so that's in the back."

"You've really got to stop breaking into my apartment," Steve said with a laugh. "My neighbors are going to be concerned." Natasha gave him a mischevious smile as they pulled up to the security check at the Triskelion.

* * *

A few hours later, they were in the middle of the mission. Natasha could hear Steve yelling for her over the coms, followed by fighting happening just outside the door to the room she was working in. _Shit,_ she thought to herself. She began working faster, attempting to get all of the information downloaded before Steve figured out where she was. It was only a few moments later when Steve came crashing into the room with Batroc. _You're fucked Romanoff._

"Well this is awkward," she said sarcastically, still downloading the files.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, brushing himself off as he stood up to face her.

"Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into." _Please don't hate me._ She could tell that Steve was irritated with her, and it was only going to get worse once he saw what it was that she was doing.

"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" Steve walked over and looked at what she was doing. "You're saving SHIELD intel," she could hear the frustration and disappointment coloring his voice. "Our mission is to rescue hostages."

She felt sick to her stomach again, "no. That's your mission," she replied coldly as she pulled the flash drive out. "This is mine." Natasha began to walk out of the room, when Steve grabbed her arm.

"You could've jeopardized this whole mission," he was furious.

 _I tried to tell Fury._ "I think that's overstating things."

They were interrupted by Batroc standing up and throwing a grenade at them as he exited the room. Steve quickly used his shield to block the grenade before wrapping his arm around Natasha and jumping through the window with her. They had just cleared the window whenever it exploded. Both Steve and Natasha were coughing, the heavy smoke in the room making it even more difficult for Natasha to breathe.

"Okay, that one's on me," she said after a moment, trying to lighten the mood.

"You're damn right," Steve growled as he pushed himself up off the floor.

Natasha sat there for a moment longer. She felt her eyes brim with tears for a moment, her anger and frustration rising to the surface. She took a deep breath and quickly slipped her blasé expression back on her face. When she got out to the extraction point, Steve was helping get the hostages to the life-pods.

"Romanoff," he called, "I need you to help get group three into their life-pods. That is, unless you have something else you have to do that you didn't tell me."

 _Fuck he's really mad._ "I'm on it, Cap," she yelled back. She quickly got the hostages situated before getting onto the Quinjet. She knew that Steve would be the last one on the jet, he always was. He wanted to make sure everyone else was secure before he was, so she sat down and waited. Everyone else filed into the jet, some of the STRIKE team agents looked at Natasha curiously after the altercation between her and Steve. Natasha kept her expression nonchalant, though her chest felt like it was being ripped apart.

Steve finally climbed onto the ship, "let's move," was all he shouted. He briefly made eye contact with Natasha before turning and walking into another part of the ship. Natasha sat there for a few minutes, deciding to give him time to calm down before trying to explain things. When she felt enough time had passed, (and when most of the other agents were asleep or preoccupied) she silently got up and moved to the area of the ship where Steve was. He was sitting on one of the benches, going through files so he could put together his report. He heard her coming around the corner before he saw her, but he kept his eyes focused on the file he was reading, not looking up when she came in.

"Hey," she whispered softly as she walked over to the bench across from him. Steve didn't say anything, he just set aside the file he was reading to grab another. "Steve," Natasha pleaded, "please talk to me."

"What do you want me to say, Nat?" Steve replied coldly. He glanced up at her from his folder briefly but looked away just as quick.

"I don't necessarily want you to say anything," Natasha said, "I just want you to hear me out." She leaned forward and braced her elbows on her knees.

Steve sighed and dropped the file in his hands onto the bench next to him before gesturing to her to continue.

Natasha drew in a deep breath. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but Fury wouldn't let me. I told him that he needs to stop hiding stuff from you and that I didn't want to lie to you. I knew when he said that you couldn't know that the information that he needed me to get was something that you wouldn't agree with SHIELD having. Truthfully, I knew that if I felt uneasy about it, you would be completely against it."

"You could've told me anyway."

"I really couldn't," Natasha replied.

"So, when was this conversation with Fury," he said, folding his arms across his broad chest.

Natasha looked down at her hands, "Tuesday."

"When you were pissed off in the gym. So, you lied to me not once, but twice." His voice was biting, she could see him trying to keep his anger under control. "You lied to me about knowing anything about the mission we were going on, and you lied to me about what your purpose on this mission was."

"Steve, I-"

"No Agent Romanoff, you put this mission in danger, do you understand that? Fury's orders or not, I'm your Captain. I need to know where my people are at all times. That includes you. You might be an Avenger, but that doesn't mean that you are above orders. You could've gotten those people hurt or killed." Steve stood up, gathering his files in his arms. "And if that's not enough for you. You could've gotten yourself hurt or killed. Maybe that doesn't mean much to you, but it does to me." Steve held her gaze for a while longer, his eyes swimming with various emotions. She knew that he felt betrayed, she knew he was angry, but she also knew there was more that he wasn't saying. She just couldn't place what it was. "We should be landing soon. You should get your stuff together," he said before walking into the main part of the jet.

Natasha sat on the bench for a while longer, on the verge of tears for the second time in one day. She ran her hands over her face and through her hair before standing up and entering the main portion of the jet. She sat in one of the chairs long enough for the jet to descend and land. As soon as the ramp touched the ground, Natasha grabbed her bag off of the floor of the jet and took off. Steve watched as she went, part of him wanting to apologize for the things that he said, but the other part of him still too angry to speak to her.

* * *

"Director Fury's office," Steve said when the elevator doors had closed.

"Restricted access, please state your name," the robotic voice sounded.

"Steve Rogers."

"Captain Rogers. Clearance level 8. Access granted." The began moving and Steve could feel his anger rising with every floor. When the elevator doors opened, Steve stepped out to meet Fury who was currently looking out the window.

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve was practically vibrating with anger.

"I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours," Fury replied very matter of fact.

"Which you didn't allow her to share," Steve retorted. "I have to know where my team is, Nick. You can't be sending people on secret missions. I have to be able to trust them to do their job. You've lied to me since day one, and now you're having her lie to me too."

"If it helps, she didn't want to."

"It doesn't help," Steve shouted, slamming his hands onto Nick's desk. The desk shook under the force and made a slight cracking noise. "She endangered the mission, Nick. Was that your intention? Was saving the hostages actually why we were there or if things had gone south would you have had us focus on saving the information rather than the people?"

Fury turned and faced Steve, "Agent Romanoff was following my orders. Which is something that has been a concern as of late. She didn't have a choice. Especially being on probation."

Steve took a slight step back, "what do you mean she's on probation?"

"The World Security Council demanded she be put on probation after she openly let you out of the simulation room. They came to the conclusion that if she would willingly disobey orders because she thought that she knew better over them, that she needed to be put in check."

Steve felt a wave of guilt rush over him, "so, when she said she couldn't-"

"She really couldn't. If they found out she disobeyed another direct order, she'd have been fired and subsequently locked up."

Steve stood up straight and headed for the elevator, "I need to talk to her."

"Before you do," Fury called after him, "there's something else I think it's time you know about." Fury followed him over to the elevator, the two of them climbing in.

"And that is?" Steve asked, turning to face Fury.

"Project Insight."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own these characters or Marvel.

* * *

Wow! I can't thank you guys enough for all of the support and wonderful comments you guys have given this story. When it first started out, it was only going to be a one-shot, but I'm so glad that you guys asked for more because this has quickly become one of my favorite stories that I've written. So thank you guys so much!

As always, please leave comments, review, and follow. I love seeing what you guys think about this story!

* * *

Fury was dead. Steve didn't know what to think. After everything that happened in the past 24 hours he felt like he'd been brought out of the ice all over again. He'd felt betrayed when Natasha lied to him on their mission. He'd been harsh when they were on the jet, only to find out that she didn't have another choice, that she really did fight Fury about it. He stood there in complete silence, watching Natasha as she stood over Fury's body.

His attention was drawn to the door when he heard Maria walk in. "I need to take him," she said, her voice small.

Natasha didn't move as Steve walked up behind her. "Natasha," he whispered, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Natasha felt her heart drop in her stomach at his touch. She felt like she'd lost two people that day. She'd lost Fury literally, and she lost Steve figuratively (which she felt stupid for thinking because it's not like he was hers in the first place). Natasha reached her hand out and touched Fury's face once more before turning sharply and walking out of the room. "Natasha," Steve yelled as he ran after her.

She quickly flipped around on him, "why was Fury in your apartment?"

Steve was taken aback. _Don't trust anyone,_ Fury's last words to him rang through his head. He wanted to trust Natasha. He wanted to trust her more than anything, but after everything that had recently come to light, he wasn't completely sure he could. Steve blinked and shook his head slightly, "I don't know." _Now who's lying, Rogers._ Rumlow walked in and interrupted their conversation. He told Steve that he was needed back at SHIELD immediately.

"You're a terrible liar," Natasha scoffed as she shoved past him. Steve could feel the flash drive that Fury had handed him back at the apartment sitting in his pocket. He didn't know what was on it, but he knew that he needed to make sure it was safe. Catching a glimpse of the vending machine out of the corner of his eye, Steve quickly placed it inside towards the back before hurrying off after Rumlow and the rest of the STRIKE team.

* * *

Steve rushed back into the hospital after Pierce declared him a fugitive of SHIELD. He'd only stopped long enough to change clothes so that the chances of him being recognized were smaller. _So, this is what Fury meant,_ he thought to himself. He quickly walked up to the vending machine to find the flash drive was missing. Seconds later Natasha appeared behind him, Steve quickly shoved her into the room behind them.

"Where is it?" he growled.

"Safe," Natasha replied.

"Nat, you're going to have to do better."

"Answer me this, Rogers, where'd it come from."

"Why should I tell you?" Steve retorted.

"It came from Fury. Why'd he give it to you?" She asked, her eyebrow quirked in interest.

"So, you know what's on it?"

"No, I don't."

Steve slammed his hands against the wall, entrapping her between his arms, "Stop lying to me," He said, his voice low and dangerous. Natasha could feel her heart racing, but not from fear, more because of their proximity.

Natasha's face contorted slightly, almost pleading with him, "I'm not lying, Steve. I only act like I know everything." Steve sighed and dropped his arms.

"I want to trust you, Nat." He ran his hands through his hair, "I really do."

"Steve, I've done nothing but try to gain your trust." Natasha crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. Steve mirrored her actions leaning against the wall across from her. The two of them were silent for a moment, both searching the other's faces trying to find what they needed.

"I think I know who killed Fury," Natasha finally said. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

Steve laughed ironically, "so he's a ghost story."

"No," Natasha replied. "Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me. Bye bye bikinis," she said as she lifted her shirt to show him the scar on her stomach.

Steve rolled his eyes and a smirk played at his lips, "I'm sure you look terrible in them now." Natasha felt her lips turn up in a smile, as well. _There's a hint of the Steve Rogers I know._

"Like you said, he's a ghost story."

"Well, then we need to find out what the ghost wants."

"We?" Natasha asked, her expression faltering slightly. Natasha felt her stomach twist. It had never mattered to her before if someone trusted her or not, but after even briefly losing Steve's trust, she'd resolved that she was never going to lose it again.

"You're still my partner, aren't you? I can't really do this without you." Steve closed some of the distance between them. "But even if I could, I don't want to."

Natasha took a deep breath, keeping her arms crossed. She stood in front of him for a moment before raising an eyebrow playfully at him, a smirk emerging on her lips, "I guess we'd better get started then."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters. This is written purely for entertainment purposes.

* * *

Natasha turned around to face Steve, "kiss me," she hissed under her breath.

The look on Steve's face was one of pure shock, "what?"

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable," Natasha said, moving closer to Steve.

"Yes, they do," he argued back.

"Steve jus-." Natasha's sentence was cut off by Steve wrapping his arms around her waist and slanting his lips over hers. Natasha reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, tilting his face in slightly so the SHIELD agents going up the elevators across from them couldn't see their faces. The longer Steve's lips were on hers, the more she didn't want to break their kiss. She found herself opening her mouth slightly to him before she remembered where they were. _Another time,_ she thought, as she pulled away, though every cell in her body screaming to go back. She could feel that her face was flushed and could see that Steve's was as well. "Still uncomfortable?" She teased.

Steve flashed her a smile that gave her butterflies, but simultaneously made her want to drag him off somewhere private so she could have her way with him. "It's not exactly the word I would use."

Natasha smirked, "come on, we need to get out of here."

* * *

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asked as they drove to the location they found off the flash drive.

"Nazi Germany," Steve replied, a small hint of a smile on his face. Natasha nodded her head and hummed. "But we're borrowing it. Take your feet off the dash." He batted her legs down playfully and Natasha smirked at him. They drove along in silence, both of them attempting to distract themselves. "Hey Natasha," Steve said after a while.

"Hmm?" She turned to look at him.

"I wanted to apologize to you for everything." Steve stole a glance at her, she had her eyebrows furrowed together.

"You don't need to-"

"No, I do. I shouldn't have been so hard on you about it, you were just following orders. I don't know, I was just…hurt, I guess. It wasn't fair." Steve kept his grip tight on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road.

"No Steve, I shouldn't have lied to you. I should've just told you anyway. You were right, I put the mission in danger." Natasha's voice came out slightly strangled. She had her head leaned back on the seat, facing him.

"You were right to," Steve replied. He turned his head to meet her gaze. "I don't want it to become a habit, but you were right to." He gave her a small smile before turning back to the road. Natasha stared at him for a moment.

"I wasn't though," she said.

"You were, Nat. You had to. I wouldn't have liked your mission. I would've been pissed off. And you had orders from Fury that you couldn't ignore-,"

"I could've." Natasha interrupted.

Steve quickly turned his head to look at her. "So that you could get fired and imprisoned? No. I wouldn't have wanted you to do that. I wouldn't let you do that." Steve reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "Stop blaming yourself for it Natasha. I forgive you, I know that's not who you are. I just hope that you can forgive me."

Natasha laughed a little bit, "forgive you for what?"

"For losing faith in you," he replied seriously.

Natasha felt her throat go dry and her heart rate increase. "Your faith might be in the wrong place, Rogers." She turned and looked out the passenger side window.

"No, Nat. It's not." Steve's grip on the wheel had tightened even more. He hated when she talked about herself like this, and he hated even more that his actions had something to do with her feelings about herself. It wasn't until he felt the wheel start to bend under his hands that he finally loosened his grip. "Natasha look at me," he said, reaching out for her hand again. Natasha hesitated, but turned to meet his eyes. The look that he was giving her made her heart skip a beat. She'd never felt this vulnerable with anyone, not even Clint. Steve intertwined their fingers before talking again, "you are not what they made you."

Natasha's breath caught in her throat. "Thank you," she whispered. She felt herself beginning to tear up. Steve gave her hand a small squeeze before putting his hands back on the wheel.

Natasha cleared her throat, "alright, I have a question for you. Oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?" She smirked at him.

Steve raised an eyebrow at her, "what?"

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"

Steve laughed a little bit, "that bad, huh?"

Natasha shook her head, "I didn't say that."

"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying." Steve teased.

"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had."

Steve scoffed, "you don't need practice."

"Everybody needs practice, Rogers. Even me." Natasha smirked at him again.

Steve raised his brow in curiosity, his lips turned up at the corners, "are you propositioning me, Romanoff?"

Natasha shrugged, "maybe I am. Would that be so bad?"

"I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead." The tension between the two was palpable.

Natasha hummed, "well then, I'll keep that in mind, but it looks like we're going to have to table this discussion," she said as they pulled up to the location described by the GPS. "Are you sure this is the place?" she asked.

"Absolutely." Steve looked around at the place laid out before him, "this is the camp where I was trained."


	8. Chapter 8

The infamous bedroom scene at Sam's. I went with this in a different direction than the movies. You guys will see what I mean whenever you read it, but I hope you like it! As always, please review, follow, favorite, and so on!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

 _Zola. Hydra. SHIELD. Project Insight._ Steve's head was reeling from everything that he had learned at Camp Lehigh. He leaned his head down over the sink cupping his hands together to collect water before splashing it on his face. He reached behind him to grab the small hand towel hanging from its holder. Steve glanced at himself in the mirror, it had only been a few hours since they escaped from Hydra's attempt to kill them, but most of the cuts, scrapes, and bruises that he'd received had already healed. As he was drying off his hands, Steve's gaze shifted from himself in the mirror to Natasha who was sitting on the bed drying her hair. She hadn't said much since they arrived at Sam's, but he knew that for as difficult as it was for him to process everything that happened, it had to be just as bad, if not worse for her.

"Nat," he said gently as he leaned against the doorframe, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Natasha replied, giving him a small smile. Steve could see the sadness in her eyes. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't okay.

"Talk to me." He sat down next to her on the bed. Natasha looked up from the floor and met his cerulean eyes. With everything they'd just learned, the truths that he learned about his past, they shouldn't have been so gentle. They shouldn't have been so inviting to her. Her palms began to itch wanting to reach out to touch his face. She wanted nothing more than to allow him to pull her close and wrap her in his arms, but she knew that it wasn't her choice. Her heart began to race thinking of all of the things that she needed to tell him, things that he needed to know. _Once he knows, he's never going to want more with you. He might not even want anything to do with you after, Romanoff._

Natasha drew in a breath, "there are things I need to tell you," she whispered. Steve furrowed his eyebrows, but didn't say anything, allowing Natasha to continue when she was ready. Natasha swallowed hard before beginning, "in what feels like a previous life, my name was Natalia Alianovna Romanova. I was born November 22, 1928. I was orphaned. My parents died in a fire that I'm not completely sure wasn't started on purpose." Natasha began fidgeting with her hands, something that Steve had never seen her do before. She kept her eyes fixated on the floor, afraid to see the judgement that she was sure was painted across his face, "I was saved by a man named Ivan Petrovitch. He was the one who got me involved in the Red Room. When World War II broke out and you came about, the Russians wanted to start a program that could help take you down, known as the Black Widow program. There could be only one Black Widow. There was a lot of…killing that happened and ultimately, I was dubbed the Black Widow." Natasha took another deep breath, "after being named the Black Widow, I was taken away for experimentation. The Russians had been developing a serum that they believed would have the same effects as the serum that you were given by Erskine. It didn't, but it did slow my aging, I heal quicker than most people, and my immune system is stronger. You'd gone under by the time that this had happened, but they believed that you would eventually show up again. I was essentially made for you, made to take you out, to end you. I'm sorry. I was lying to you. I should've told you sooner about all of this, but I-"

"Nat," Steve interrupted, his voice firm, but still soft and caring. Natasha looked up for the first time since she'd started talking to see his look of sympathy. He reached over and grabbed her hand out of her lap, holding it tightly for a moment before intertwining their fingers. "What did I tell you in the truck earlier today?" Natasha stared at him, her expression unchanging. Steve reached over and brushed a piece of hair, still damp from her shower, out of her face. "You are not what they made you. It doesn't matter to me. Well, I mean, it does matter to me because the thought of people hurting you like that is infuriating. But my opinion of you? That's not changing. I know who you are Natasha."

Natasha could feel her eyes brimming with tears, a few of them daring to fall. It had been a long time since she'd cried, and normally she wouldn't let herself, but sitting there with Steve, she allowed herself to fall apart. Steve took his thumb and gently wiped away her tears before scooting closer to her and taking her in his arms. He wrapped her up tightly, well aware of the pulling feeling in his chest. He gently soothed her, brushing his fingers through her hair as she quietly sobbed against him. It wasn't until she'd started to calm down some that he spoke again.

"You weren't lying to me, you know." Steve said quietly.

"I was." Natasha replied in a voice that didn't sound like her own.

"No Nat, you weren't. Like you said before, it was a past life. You're Natasha Romanoff. You're a wonderful agent, a kickass Avenger, my partner, my friend, and someone I care about very deeply." Steve's voice cracked slightly at the end, pulling Natasha's attention up towards his face.

"Steve, be honest with me, do you trust me?" Natasha asked.

"I've trusted you since I met you," he said seriously. "And I'm always honest," he added with a smile.

"Even after all of this?"

"I told you from the beginning, I trust you to tell me what I need to know about you, when I need to know it." He reached down and brushed her hair back behind her ear, wiping the remnants of her tears away from her eyes as he did. Natasha stared up at him, her emerald eyes searching his face for some sign that he wasn't okay with the things that she just told him, but she didn't find anything. "I will say though, the one thing that I am upset about-," Natasha felt her heart drop in anticipation as he craned his neck down to look at her, "is that you've been teasing me from being old, and here you are only 10 years younger than me." He gave her his dazzling smile, all of her fear an anxiety finally melting away.

"You're still a fossil, Rogers," she said with a laugh.

He chuckled, "maybe so, but that also means that you are as well."

They sat there for a few minutes, neither one of them saying anything, but both of them relishing in the closeness that they felt in this moment. Steve wanted so badly to tell Natasha how he felt about her, but he knew that with everything going on and the emotional state that she was currently in, it wasn't the right time. Natasha finally pulled back away from his arms to look at him straight on.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, keeping his hold on her hand.

"I'm good Steve, thank you," she replied softly.

There was a soft knock at the door before Sam entered the room. They knew that he could clearly tell that something was off between them, but he pretended not to notice. "I made breakfast… if you guys, eat that sort of thing," he said before turning around and exiting the room.

Natasha took a deep breath before standing up, "Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"We're good right?" she asked hesitantly.

"We're just fine Nat. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you," Steve said, "what do you say we go get something to eat?"

Natasha smiled at him, "I say that sounds wonderful. I'm starving."

"Me too," he laughed as they began to leave the room.

"Yeah, what else is new?" Natasha teased, giving him a playful shove. She felt her heart breathe a sigh of relief, _we'll be just fine._


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

"Hill, where's Steve? Do you have a location on Rogers?" Natasha asked, panic lacing her voice. She leaned slightly out of the helicopter, looking for something, anything that would show her that Steve was okay. Her heart was racing, _don't do this to me, Rogers. Don't you dare do this to me._ "Maria, where is he?" She shouted again, this time more urgent.

"I can't locate him, he's not wearing a tracker," Maria yelled over the roar of the helicopter blades.

"Why didn't you wait for him to get out?" Natasha yelled back.

"He told me to fire, Natasha. We didn't have time."

Natasha felt as though all of the air had been sucked out of her lungs. "Romanoff, we've got to get going," Fury turned from his position in the passenger seat to look at her. "I'm sorry," he said as he placed a hand gently on her knee. Natasha was just about to tell Maria to pull up when she saw something moving along the river bank. The glint of Bucky's arm caught her eye as she realized that he was dragging something along behind him. He moved slightly, revealing the star in the center of the object. _Steve._

"Maria drop down! He's there!" Natasha screamed. "The riverbank on your five o'clock." Maria quickly whipped the helicopter around towards the riverbank, "Sam call the medics." As Maria brought the helicopter toward the ground, Natasha jumped out, rolling gracefully before popping up once again in a run. She sprinted towards Bucky standing over Steve's lifeless figure laying on the beach. _Come on Rogers, hang in there for me. Please._

When she reached him, Bucky quickly flipped around to face her. She put her hands up in the air, "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help him. Please," she begged, "please let me help him." Bucky stared at her for a moment before moving away from Steve's body. "Thank you," she said breathlessly, dropping to her knees over Steve. She began assessing his wounds. He was losing a lot of blood. Natasha quickly ripped part of the jacket she was wearing and bunched it up before placing it over the worst wound to help stop the bleeding. She looked up and saw that Bucky was still standing there watching her, "you need to go," she said urgently. "I promise, I'll take care of him. Bucky, you need to get out of here, they're going to be looking for you." The look on her face was pleading, she knew how much he meant to Steve. If Bucky was captured again after all of this, Steve would feel responsible. "Please Bucky, go. I won't let anything happen to him. I love him." Natasha felt a tear roll down her cheek, something that she wasn't expecting, but also something that she couldn't stop. She turned her attention back to Steve, moving her hands slightly to check the bleeding. It was slowing down some, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. When she looked back up, Bucky had disappeared. She felt herself let out a small breath of air, one that she didn't know she was holding in. She kept pressure on Steve's wound and reached out to touch his face, "don't die on me, Steve. I meant it. I meant what I said to Bucky. I love you. I need you to fight, please."

Natasha heard the blare of the sirens moments later and quickly placed her free hand back on the wound. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, putting on a hard face before they arrived.

"Ma'am you've got to move, we've got this," the paramedic said, attempting to pull Natasha away from Steve.

"He's losing too much blood. If you move me, he'll bleed out," Natasha stated.

"Ma'am-" the paramedic began.

"No. You move the both of us," Natasha snapped. The paramedic looked to the others before nodding. They quickly got Steve and Natasha onto the gurney, Natasha straddling his body to keep pressure. The ambulance ride felt like an eternity to Natasha. "Can't we go any faster?" she growled, masking her fear as anger. When the ambulance finally arrived, they quickly rolled Steve back into an operating room.

"You have to go now," the doctor said, "you've done a good job, but you have to let me work." Natasha began to protest when someone quickly reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Natasha, let them work," Sam said quietly. Natasha shrugged Sam's grip off of her before storming out of the room. She quickly walked into the bathroom and locked herself in the stall before finally allowing herself to completely fall apart.

* * *

"Natasha, why don't you go get some rest." Sam walked into Steve's hospital room, a frown on his face. Natasha had been by Steve's side since he got into the hospital. She didn't leave the room for anything, she wouldn't eat, she hadn't slept, and Sam was beginning to worry. "He's not going to wake up while you're gone," Sam added, sitting in a chair adjacent to her.

Natasha shot him a dangerous look, "I'm not leaving, Sam. I can rest here if I need to. I'm fine."

Sam put his hands up as a sign of surrender, "okay, fine. You do need to eat though," he didn't miss the glare Natasha gave him, "don't worry, I'm not asking you to leave. I was going to offer to get you something." Sam watched her relax slightly, and he thought that she might've even smiled a little bit.

"A burger would be nice," she said.

"A burger it is," Sam replied as he stood up. "I'll be right back." As he walked past her, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder. He knew that it was a dangerous move, but he wanted her to know he wasn't just there for Steve, "he'll be okay Natasha." He made eye contact with her briefly before walking out of the room.

Natasha sighed and leaned back in her chair, "you'd better be okay Rogers," she whispered.

Sam returned several minutes later with a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink for Natasha. "I figured you're probably hungrier than you're letting on," he said as he sat the food down in front of her.

"Thanks," she murmured, quickly scarfing down the food. Sam resisted the urge to chuckle.

"Maria asked me to meet with her to help try and talk down the committee. I'll be back in a bit." Sam left the room and quietly closed the door behind him. Natasha finished her food soon after, her exhaustion finally hitting her.

She looked over at Steve who was still out. Natasha pulled her chair up to the side of his bed. She hesitated for a moment before gingerly lifting his arm up and laying it across her shoulders before laying her head down on the spot previously occupied by his arm. She took a deep breath, the tension that she had been holding in her body finally slipping away at the feeling of his arm against her body. Within seconds, she was asleep.

* * *

Steve blinked, his eyes still felt heavy with exhaustion. He looked at the things in front of him, and quickly realized that he was in the hospital. He felt his arm move slightly beside him. Natasha's scarlet hair was thrown over his arm, her face turned in toward his. He smiled slightly at the sight of her asleep next to him. Music was playing quietly on the small phone dock sitting on the counter.

Steve turned his head to the left groaning slightly at the soreness of his muscles. He saw Sam sitting in the chair against the wall, flipping through a magazine.

"On your left," Steve murmured, his voice raspy from lack of use. He managed to give Sam a slight smile, despite his pain.

"Hey man, how you feeling?" Sam asked as he closed his magazine and set it on his lap.

"Like I had an airplane dropped on me," he replied with a slight chuckle.

"You gave us a scare," Sam said, "especially Natasha. She wouldn't leave your side."

Steve turned his head to look down at her sleeping form once more, tightening his grip around her shoulders slightly. The two sat in a comfortable silence as Sam leafed through his magazine again, while Steve watched Natasha sleeping in his arms.

"I've got to find him, Sam," Steve whispered after a while.

"I know, and I think she knows too." Sam leaned back in his chair, turning his attention back to Steve.

"You don't have to come." He turned to look at Sam.

"I know, but I'll be there," Sam replied.

Steve nodded before turning his attention back to Natasha. _You'd better come too. I can't do this without you._ Steve drew in a deep breath before leaning his head back against the pillows. He closed his eyes and allowed Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" to lull him to sleep once more.

* * *

Author's Note: Originally, I was going to add the graveyard scene into this chapter, but there's a lot that I want to include in the graveyard scene, so I decided to split it up into two chapters. If I added it to this one, it would've been MEGA long.

Please follow, favorite, and review! :)


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters!

* * *

Natasha stood back in the graveyard, watching as Fury talked with Sam and Steve. She clutched the folder in her hand tightly as she looked on. As much as she was trying, she couldn't ignore the pulling feeling in her chest when she thought about what she was about to do. Everything was out on the internet, everything that she had ever done was out there for the world to see. She needed to disappear. It was hardly the first time that she'd needed to disappear before, this time shouldn't be any different, so why was it? If she was being honest with herself, she knew the answer to that question, but she tried to push that aside. _Love is for children._

She saw Steve look over his shoulder to where she was standing. He gave her a dazzling smile that made her heart skip a beat. She watched as he turned back to Sam and Fury, saying something quickly before walking over to where Natasha was standing.

"Hey," he said as he approached her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked himself back on his heels. "So, Fury's headed to Europe," he started.

Natasha nodded, "he said there were still a lot of HYDRA agents out there."

"Are you going with him?" Steve asked, shifting his focus to his feet.

"No."

Steve looked up at her, "but you're still planning on going somewhere, aren't you?"

Natasha swallowed hard, her heart screaming at her to say no, "yes." Steve pursed his lips together and nodded, staring off into the cemetery. Natasha fidgeted with the folder in her hand for a moment waiting for Steve to say something before she couldn't stand the silence anymore. "I blew all my covers. I need to go figure out a new one."

Steve turned his gaze back to her, a frown evident on his face. "That could take a while," he said in a low voice.

Natasha stared at him for a moment, every atom in her body itching to reach out to him, to hug him, kiss him, promise him and make him promise her that they weren't going anywhere without the other. For a moment, her façade cracked. Though it was only a brief moment, Steve saw and he wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and pull her to him. She quickly collected herself before thrusting the folder she'd been holding out to him, "That thing you asked for." Steve looked down at the folder, now in his hands before raising an eyebrow at her. "I called in a few favors from Kiev," she said with a shrug.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Steve?" Natasha's voice quivered slightly as she said his name. She quickly cleared her throat before continuing. "Promise me you'll be careful," he could see the sadness and fear in her eyes for a moment before she masked it once more. "I don't want to have to leave to come save your life again," she teased.

Steve chuckled slightly, "you have my word, Nat. I promise."

Natasha nodded and gave him a soft smile. She slowly walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, lingering just a moment longer than she should have. "You might not want to pull on that thread," she said gently. She stepped back and gave him a half smile, "I'll see you around, soldier."

Steve returned the smile, "see you around, Nat." Natasha turned and began to walk away when Steve called after her again. Natasha turned around to face him, "be safe, Natasha." She nodded once before turning and walking away again. Steve watched her the whole way to her car. His muscles twitched with the urge to run after her. When she got in the car, she gave him a small wave, one that he returned, before speeding off. Steve stared after her car feeling like his heart had dropped into his stomach. It wasn't until Sam walked up and clapped his hand over his shoulder that he finally tore his gaze away from where Natasha had just disappeared.

Steve cleared his throat, "well, I guess we better get a game plan going." He didn't wait for Sam to reply before he began walking to the car.

"Steve," Sam called after him. He jogged to catch up with Steve's gait, "man, wait a minute." He reached out and pulled slightly on Steve's shoulder. Steve's jaw visibly tightened as he turned to face Sam.

"What," Steve snapped, his tone biting.

"Go after her, man."

"She doesn't want me to," Steve sighed, running his hands over his face.

"Steve, go after her. You two need each other, go after her."

Steve took in a deep breath, thinking over what Sam had said.

"If you stay here much longer, you're going to miss her. Go. Get out of here," Sam said with a smile. A smile broke out across Steve's face and he nodded. He took off at a full sprint to the car, stopping halfway to look back at Sam.

"Wait, how are you going to get home?" Steve shouted.

"Don't worry about me, just get to Natasha," Sam yelled back.

 _Please still be there, Nat._

* * *

Natasha felt a lump in her throat the entire drive home. _You can't turn back._ She got into her apartment and slammed the door behind her, her blood boiling in anger, frustration, and sadness. She walked over, dropping her head against the wall for a moment before pulling back and punching through it. She pulled her hand out of the wall and shook the bits of drywall off. Natasha dropped her head back against her shoulders and walked into her bedroom. There was still some time before she needed to get out of there, so she decided that taking a bath would help her calm down.

As she settled into the bathtub, her mind slipped back to the helicarrier with Loki.

 _Is this love Agent Romanoff?_

 _Love is for children._

Natasha sighed as she slid down further in the bathtub, submerging her head under the water. _Love is for children,_ she thought to herself again. When she finally got done in the bathroom, she stepped out and put on fresh clothes. She began to pull out the clothes in her dresser since she'd be leaving. Luckily, she didn't have much else that she would need to pack. Her apartment was pretty barren, she didn't have many decorations or items other than the essentials for this exact reason. As she folded her clothes to pack into her suitcase, her eyes flitted over to the one picture sitting on her nightstand. She dropped the clothes, walking over to it and plucking it from the nightstand. She smiled at it, setting back on her bed. It was a picture of her and Steve that she'd taken of them months prior. Steve had taken her to Brooklyn to a small diner that he used to go to as a child. He promised her that they had the best milkshakes that she would ever taste, and he was right. They'd been riding on his motorcycle back to D.C. when she pulled out her phone and snapped the picture of them. Steve had flicked his eyes up to the camera just in time, a small but adoring smile on his face. Behind him, Natasha's hair was flowing out behind her from the wind and she had a bright smile on her face, something that surprised even her when she looked back at the picture. She drew in a deep breath before pushing herself off of the bed and gingerly placing the picture in her suitcase. The lump in her throat returned and her eyes brimmed with tears. She felt like she was seconds away from falling apart when there was a loud knock on her door.

"Natasha!" A muffled voice yelled through the door.

She furrowed her eyebrows peeking out of her bedroom.

"NATASHA!" The banging on the door picked up. Natasha swiftly moved over to her nightstand, opening it and pulling the gun she kept stashed there out. The banging on the door continued as she cautiously walked toward the door. Just as she got to the door, the banging suddenly stopped. She quietly pressed up against it and looked through the peephole, but no one was there. She was just about to walk back into her bedroom when she heard the window in her living room opening. Natasha peered around the corner, silently clicking the safety off, ready to shoot as soon as the person showed themselves.

"Nat?" She heard the person call. Natasha instantly relaxed and flipped the safety back on.

"Jesus fuck Rogers, are you trying to get shot?" Natasha asked as she rounded the corner, the gun still in her hand. She had just laid her eyes on him when she sprinted forward and pulled her into a hug. Natasha was surprised, but almost immediately relaxed into it, wrapping her arms around him as well. He held her there for a few moments before he pulled back.

"Stay," he said.

"What?" She replied. She felt her mouth go dry at his words.

"Please, Natasha. Stay."

Natasha bit on her lip, "Steve, I-"

"Nat, please." Steve moved his hands to her shoulders, his eyes pleading with her. Natasha felt herself melt as she looked into his eyes, her heart racing.

"My covers are blown," she said, shaking her head and moving her eyes to the floor.

Steve tentatively moved his hand up to cup her face. "Hey, look at me," Steve whispered. Natasha rolled her lips together before looking into his eyes. "What's wrong with being Natasha Romanoff?" He asked, running his thumb gently along her cheekbone. Natasha felt herself instantly begin to cry. Steve pulled her against his body, gently shushing her. "I think Natasha Romanoff is pretty amazing," he whispered. "She's strong, she's powerful, she's funny, witty, and beautiful. She can be a huge pain in my ass," he said with a chuckle. He heard her laugh a little bit against his chest. He released his hold on her and brought his hands up to her face to wipe her tears, "but I've never met anyone like her, and I'm positive I won't ever meet another person like her." He brushed her hair away from her face, gently scooping it behind her ear. "I don't want to lose her. So, Nat, stay. Just be Natasha Romanoff."

Natasha took in a shaky breath. Steve put a finger under her chin, tilting it up slightly so her eyes met his. "Please," he whispered.

She stared at him for a moment longer, finding herself getting lost in his eyes. "Okay," she murmured, almost not realizing she'd spoken at all.

"Okay?" He asked, shock coloring his voice.

Natasha nodded, "okay." A smile broke out across her face, "I'll stay."

Steve pulled her back against his body, wrapping his arms tightly around her. They stayed that way for several minutes, neither one of them wanting to let go of the other.

"You couldn't show up five minutes earlier?" Natasha teased.

Steve pulled away from her, his eyebrows furrowed, "why?"

"I'd started packing, now I have to unpack. Thanks a lot, Rogers," she smirked at him.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve challenged, though a smile a firmly planted itself on his lips.

"You'd better get to unpacking for me." Natasha plopped her body down on the couch, raising an eyebrow challengingly at him.

Steve chuckled, "I guess if it means you're definitely staying, then I'll bite the bullet and do it."

"I'm staying, Steve. No more running," she replied, her tone serious. Her smile returned to her face a moment later, "at least not alone."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

"Hey Red, good to see you guys are back," Tony shouted as Natasha exited the elevator. After the fall of SHIELD and Natasha's subsequent decision to stay and help Steve, Steve and Natasha had moved in to the Avengers Tower where Tony had designed each of the Avengers their own personal floors. Tony stressed that it was come and go as you pleased. All of the Avengers had accepted, even Thor who split his time between Asgard and Earth. At first, Natasha was hesitant to accept the offer, but she finally agreed after a lot of persuasion from Steve. Honestly, she didn't think that it was so bad if she didn't have to deal with Stark all the time. Especially when she was as exhausted as she felt right now.

Steve, Natasha, and Sam had been away tracking a lead on Bucky, but it was a dead end. They'd actually gotten back from their mission the night before but stayed with Sam in D.C. after they went to drop him off. He was still working at the V.A. helping returning soldiers with their PTSD. They'd offered to let Sam come with them back to New York, but he didn't want to abandon the returning soldiers that needed him.

Natasha nodded in Tony's direction before walking into the kitchen to find something for breakfast. She'd just decided on making pancakes when the elevator opened up once more and Steve stepped out.

"Capsicle," Tony yelled, "good morning!"

"Good morning, Tony," Steve replied, giving him a smile.

Natasha felt the corners of her lips turn up at the sound of his voice. She glanced up from the ingredients that she'd laid out in front of her to see that he was walking over towards her.

"Good morning," he said gently as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," she chimed. She began putting together the ingredients to make the pancake batter before she stopped and look at him. "Breakfast?" She asked, an eyebrow raised. It wasn't a necessary question, as she already knew his answer and she'd started making a large batch of batter so there would be enough for him, but she asked anyway.

"If you don't mind making extra," Steve replied, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Well, I suppose I could make enough to feed an army," she quipped. "Then again, that'll be just enough for me to have three pancakes and you to have the rest."

"Ha ha Romanoff, you're real funny," he said, scrunching his face up at her. Natasha laughed, she loved the way that his nose crinkled like that whenever he did that. "Bacon?" He asked as he dug in the fridge.

"Mmmm, yes please," Natasha replied. She turned around just as he tossed it to her, and she quickly caught it, placing it on the counter next to where she was working.

"Coffee?" Steve walked over to the coffee pot and immediately began pouring enough coffee for the both of them into the filter. He already knew what she was going to say. That was one of the benefits of them working so closely together over the past couple years. He knew practically everything about her.

"Yeah." Natasha slid behind him to grab the syrup out of the cabinet, accidentally pressing up against him as she did. She felt her face go red at the brush of their bodies, but she pretended like it was nothing. Steve also felt the touch and tensed up slightly, his heart beginning to race at the feeling of her pressed against him. He quickly turned his attention back to making her coffee, focusing on pouring in the cream and a little bit of sugar, just the way she likes it. He then made his, only putting in some sugar, before sliding her cup over to her. She smiled at him and picked it up, taking a sip and humming quietly at the sweet taste. "Perfect as always, Rogers."

"Is no one going to ask me if I want anything?" Tony whined from in front of the TV.

"Nope," they yelled back in unison.

Tony put his hand over his heart as he feigned disappointment, "I'm hurt, really. I invite you to live in my super awesome tower, I pay for everything, and I can't even get a little breakfast." He walked over to where Steve was cooking the bacon and attempted to lift a piece off of the pile. Natasha quickly pulled a knife out of where it was sitting in the butcher's block and stopped it inches away from Tony's hand which was hovering over the bacon.

"That's a really good way to lose a finger, Stark," Natasha growled. Tony quickly pulled his hands back and walked over to the other side of the kitchen island.

"She's scary."

A smirk brushed Natasha's face, "and don't you forget it."

Tony was just about to say something else when the elevator chimed signaling someone's arrival. Bruce came rushing out of the elevator. "Tony," he shouted, out of breath.

"Brucie, buddy! Come, join us. Capsicle and little Red were just threatening me for trying to touch their breakfast, so don't get any ideas about them sharing," Tony called.

"Good morning Bruce, would you like some breakfast? Nat and I made plenty," Steve said, a shit-eating grin spanning across his face.

"I-oh, I see how it is. You two are in cahoots." Tony squinted his eyes at Steve and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I guess if that's what we're calling it now," Natasha replied, winking suggestively at Tony. Steve felt his hands begin to sweat and heart race, but he attempted to play it off like it was nothing. He rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Natasha.

"You're going to give him nightmares." Natasha shrugged in indifference.

"Guys," Bruce called. Everyone turned their attention toward him, "I came up here because we've got a reading on the scepter. You should probably come take a look, Cap." Steve looked over at Natasha who nodded.

"Go, I'll finish this stuff up. Let me know if I need to pack it to go," she replied with a smile.

"Thanks Nat, sorry." Steve quickly wiped his hands off on a paper towel and walked out of the kitchen. Tony quickly pushed himself up from the island as well, joining Steve and Bruce as they walked into the elevator.

"You should probably get ahold of the others, if this is what I think it is, we might need them." Tony nodded in response.

"JARVIS?" Tony called.

"Yes sir," JARVIS responded immediately.

"We need you to get ahold of Clint and Thor," Steve said, picking up the conversation for Tony who had begun talking to Bruce about the readings.

"What would you like for me to tell them, Captain?" JARVIS asked.

"Assemble."

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, today has been crazy busy. I also couldn't decide exactly what direction I wanted to take this chapter in, so I hope you guys like it. Please review, follow, and favorite! :)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

Steve looked over the plans with Bruce as the Quinjet flew to Kalach, Russia.

"The signature was coming from just outside of this village, but I can't figure out exactly what's going on because according to the map, there's nothing else around there," Bruce said, sliding his glasses off of his face. Steve furrowed his eyebrows, leaning forward on his palms over the 3D holographic model of the map.

Natasha walked over and glanced at the map, "there is." She reached in and blew up an area a few miles south of the village, "here." Steve turned to look at Natasha, she was seemingly put together and indifferent toward the mission, but he could tell by the way that she was carrying herself that something was off.

"You're sure?" Bruce asked, squinting at the area she'd enlarged.

Natasha nodded, "absolutely."

"We'll be there in 30, ready up," Tony yelled from the pilot seat. Natasha quickly turned and walked into another area of the plane, away from everyone else. Steve saw her leave out of the corner of his eye, making a note to talk to her as soon as possible.

Steve quickly began giving everyone instructions for when they landed. "Thor, you'll be taking the right flank. Stark, you'll be giving air support and dropping Barton in when we get there. Barton, I need you on the left flank. Once we get inside, get some height and let us know what's coming at us. Romanoff and I will go up the middle and clear way. Banner, you'll be staying on the jet unless the situation calls for the Hulk. You're going to fly Natasha and I straight down the middle, we'll drop in from there. Immediately afterwards you need to go into stealth, monitor everyone and let us know what you can. If the Hulk is needed, you'll come up the middle as well. Take time and prepare yourselves. Don't forget to grab comms before we leave." Steve looked to everyone making sure they knew the game plan before nodding to them. He headed for the area Natasha had walked off toward when Clint called for him.

"Rogers," Clint called, jogging lightly to catch up with him. Steve stopped and turned toward him, trying not to show his slight annoyance at being stopped on his way to Natasha. "Hey, are you going to check on Tasha?"

Steve swallowed hard, "yeah, why?"

Clint reached out and grabbed his elbow, pulling him over to the side and out of earshot of the other Avengers. "I'm worried about her and this mission."

 _So, he's noticed something's off too._ He furrowed his eyebrows, his worry increasing. "Why?" Steve asked.

Clint looked to make sure that everyone was paying attention to their own things before continuing, "this is near where she was held in the Red Room. She spent a lot of time around here. I'm not completely convinced that she's not in danger."

Steve felt his blood run cold. That's why something had seemed wrong with her. "You think she's in danger?" Steve asked, his voice hard.

"I think she could be. I mean, it seems pretty coincidental," Clint said.

"There are no coincidences. Not about things like this." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I'm not going to ask her to sit this out. We don't know for sure that they're even after her, but we do need to keep her safe." Steve tapped his fingers against his leg for a moment before motioning to Clint to follow him back over to the others. He grabbed Bruce and Thor and the four of them went over to Tony. "Stark," Steve said. Tony turned around in his chair to face the group.

"Are we having a party?" He joked.

"Not now," Steve growled. Tony instantly shut up noticing how serious the Captain was. "Do you have an extra mobile tracker on this jet?"

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, "I do, why?"

"I need it," Steve said. He looked at all of the guys in the group before continuing, "Clint and I have reason to believe Natasha might be in danger. I'll be sticking close with her, but if something happens, we need another tracker on her suit." He could feel the tension in the air as the words left his mouth. His own skin was bristling at the thought of something happening to her. Steve turned to face Bruce, "Banner, I need you to keep a close eye on her tracker while on the jet."

"You got it, Cap," Bruce replied, nodding seriously.

"We won't let anyone get to her Lord Steven," Thor added.

"I'll program the tracker now," Tony said, spinning back around and pulling up a holographic computer to his left.

"You're going to have to sneak it on her, Cap. If she knows we're all taking these extra precautions, she's not going to be happy," Clint chimed.

Steve nodded, feeling slightly more at ease than he had before. "Alright, so everyone knows what they're doing?" The group nodded.

"Steve-O, the tracker's ready and over by the comms. Just get it on her and Bruce will do the rest."

"Thanks Stark," Steve called as he walked over to pick up his and Natasha's comms, as well as the tracker." He quickly slid the tracker under his glove to keep it hidden until he needs it. He put his comm in his ear and held Natasha's in the other hand, finally heading to where she had disappeared several minutes ago. He found her sitting on one of the benches, staring at the wall, off in her own world.

"Nat," he said gently.

Natasha blinked a few times before turning to face him, "are we ready?"

"Not yet, we're still about ten minutes out. Are you okay?" He asked, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah." She forced a smile and he frowned at her.

"I thought we were past you lying to me," he teased, nudging her slightly with his shoulder.

She laughed, "maybe I'm losing my touch."

"Or maybe I just know you too well," he replied with a smile. She shook her head lightly, a real smile coming across her face. "There she is," he chuckled. She looked up and into his eyes, momentarily pulled away from the horrors running their way through her head. He was worried, she could see it swirling around in his head. She knew that he knew that something was wrong, and he wasn't going to quit asking until she told him.

"I trained near here," she whispered, "all those years ago." Steve kept his eyes on her, "I don't know. The memories just came flooding back."

"Nothing's going to happen to you," Steve said, his Captain voice coming out. "I won't let it."

Natasha gave him a half smile, "I know you won't." She then raised her eyebrow at him, "but you know I don't need saving."

"Who said anything about me saving you?" Steve quipped, the tracker pushed up under his glove suddenly feeling heavy.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "oh so you'd just let me die?" She teased.

Steve felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew that she was joking, but the thought of something happening to her still made him feel sick to his stomach. "I'd rather die myself," he said in a low voice.

Natasha didn't say anything, she just reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. She then leaned her head over onto his shoulder, keeping their hands intertwined, both of them sitting in a comfortable silence.

A few minutes later, Clint came and knocked on the doorframe, "3 minutes to drop."

"You ready?" He asked her as they both got up.

She nodded, "let's kick some ass."

"You're dropping with me," he said. Extending his hand to give her the comm unit he'd grabbed for her.

"Parachutes?"

Steve smirked at her, "where's the fun in that?" Natasha couldn't help the smile that broke out across her face.

"Cap, we're reaching the drop zone," Bruce called from the cockpit.

"Alright," Steve said, slapping the button beside him to drop the ramp, "Tony, you're dropping Clint first, then give us some air support. Thor, you've got the other side. Natasha and I will be the last to drop in. Wait for my signal before attacking."

Everyone nodded, and Tony turned to Clint, "better clinch up, Legolas."

"You've got to stop calling me that," Clint said as Tony lifted him up and flew out of the jet with him.

"I will see you on the battlefield friends," Thor shouted before flying out of the back of the quinjet.

Steve turned and looked at Natasha, "you ready?" He asked, his excitement evident.

"Absolutely," Natasha responded as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Steve wrapped his free arm around her, gently sliding the tracker into one of the pockets of her utility belt. He lifted her off of the ground and charged out of the jet, his shield leading the way.

* * *

Author's Note:

So a few things:

1) I hope you guys like this chapter, and as always, thank you for reading!

2) Please leave reviews, favorite, and follow.

3) If you are following my other story "An Ache of the Best Kind," please bear with me. I've had some pretty serious writer's block on that story lately, but I promise I'll try to update soon!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

When Steve and Natasha landed on the ground, Steve reluctantly released his hold on Natasha's waist, his mind drifting back to the conversation he had with Clint on the jet. _Snap out of it, Rogers. You've got to focus._

"Everyone in position?" Steve called out through his comms.

"Aye," Thor shouted.

"Ready Cap," Clint yelled back.

"On your mark Cap," Tony said.

"What's it looking like up there Stark?" Steve asked as him and Natasha walked forward through the clearing and into the tree line surrounding the base.

"You've got 3 straight in front of you and red. Clint you've got two. Thor's got two as well. I'm getting a lot of heat signatures from inside though, so be ready for those numbers to go up."

"Any sign of the scepter?" Natasha called.

"Not yet." Bruce replied.

"Stark keep an eye out for the scepter. Thor on my mark you'll go in. Clint, wait 30 seconds and follow. Nat and I will be after that. Tony, cover with as much air support as possible." Everyone murmured their agreeance and Steve gave Thor the go ahead to enter. Seconds after Thor began attacking the base, alarms began sounding within the compound.

"Thor you've got incoming," Tony shouted.

"Clint, go in now." Steve and Natasha were still hiding behind the trees watching agents rush past them and over towards Thor. "Tony help him draw their attention."

"Aye aye Captain," Tony called. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"You going to let us get in on this?" Natasha asked, her arms folded across her chest as she leaned against the tree.

"Patience, Romanoff," he said giving her a smirk.

"I'm just saying, we're missing out on the good stuff," she replied, turning around to watch the agents running around. There was a loud explosion from the left and several agents that were running in the direction of Thor instantly spun around to run back the way they came. Natasha furrowed her brows as she listened to what the agents were saying as they ran past. "Stark you've got incoming. They're readying anti-aircraft," Natasha said.

"Thanks for the warning, Red," Tony shouted over the fighting.

There were a couple more explosions that caused more agents to run out of the building right in front of Steve and Natasha. "You ready?" Steve asked as he turned to face Natasha.

"It's about time, Rogers. I thought you were going to let everyone else have all the fun," she quipped as she fixed her widows bites.

Steve rolled his eyes despite the smile on his face and charge forward out of the tree line. He took the left side of the clearing while Natasha took the right. He threw his shield, hitting one agent head on before it ricocheted and hit three others. After it hit the last agent, it returned to his arm just in time to block the shots coming from his right side. He heard the gun click, signaling it was out of ammunition and quickly threw his shield once more to take out the shooter. Steve flipped around to fight off the three agents that were charging at him. Meanwhile, across the clearing, Natasha was also making her way through the throngs of agents that had come rushing out of the building. She flipped her leg up, kicking one agent in the gut before throwing the leg around the neck of another agent. She used the momentum of her body to flip the agent headfirst onto the ground, knocking him out in the process. As she stood up, she was pulled into a chokehold. She struggled against her attacker for a moment before reaching her arm back against his neck, using one of her widow's bites. She had just gotten free when Steve's shield went flying past her, knocking the gun someone had pointed at her away.

Natasha turned around to see Steve smiling at her for a second before he turned around to block another attack. "I had that, you know," Natasha yelled.

"Sure you did," Steve teased. "Anything on the scepter Banner?"

"I'm not seeing anything, it looks like it might've been a false reading," Bruce replied warily.

"Then let's wrap this up," Steve grunted as he took a punch to the gut.

An agent swung at Natasha, she easily slid under his arm before punching him in the back of the leg and taking him down. She glanced back over at Steve to say something else when she saw him struggling against five agents. Natasha quickly grabbed her pistol out of the holster on her leg and shot two of the attackers. Steve used the shift in momentum to get the other three attackers off of him.

"Cap you've got incoming," Tony shouted over the comms.

Natasha looked up and saw a small projectile heading directly towards them. She sprinted over to where Steve was as she pressed the small button on her suit to call Steve's shield to her. She stepped in front of Steve who wrapped his arm protectively around her. Steve grabbed the shield from her wrist and thrust it out in front of them just as the projectile hit the ground, blowing the them backward. He attempted to hold onto Natasha as they soared through the air, but the impact pushed her out of his grip. She was tossed in another direction, the both of them hitting the ground with a thud. The area was covered in smoke and dust, small fires burning around where the projectile hit. Steve coughed and pushed himself up off the ground. He groaned at the movement, _that's a broken rib or two._ He took a look around, his eyes scanning the area for Natasha.

"Nat," he called, but he was met with silence. "Nat?" He yelled more urgently.

"You guys alright?" Clint asked over the comms.

"Natasha," Steve shouted, walking through the area, attempting to clear the smoke to see.

"We're finishing up here, be there soon Cap," Tony called.

Steve was about to start panicking when he heard a small groan coming from the bushes to his right. He saw Natasha's red hair pop up out of the bushes. He rushed over to where she was and helped her out of the bushes. "Nat, you alright?" He asked, picking small twigs and leaves out of her hair.

"Just peachy," she said with a wince.

"Let's get out of here," he replied, turning towards the trees, "Bruce bring the jet around."

"On my way."

Steve leaned down some, waiting for Natasha to throw her arm around him to lean on him for support, but she didn't. When he turned around she was standing with her gun drawn, pointed towards the building.

"Наталия," a voice called from the building.

"Banner, I need translation," Steve whispered into his comms.

"On it," Bruce replied. Seconds later, the conversation came through Steve's earpiece in English.

"Strucker, long time no see," Natasha responded, unflinching.

"Nat?" Steve said warily, taking a step forward.

"Drop your gun Natalia, or I'll kill him," Strucker said, stepping out into the light.

"Steve, stay there," Natasha hissed as she lowered her weapon. "Where's the scepter?"

Strucker smiled, "being put to good use."

Natasha smiled slyly, "we're going to need that back."

"Unfortunately, I cannot give it to you. It's quite important for our experiments."

"Who said anything about you giving it to me?" Natasha replied, an eyebrow quirked. "I plan on taking it."

Strucker's laugh sent a chill down Steve's spine. "Goodbye Natalia." He walked toward the building. "Oh, and Natalia," he said, turning to face them once more, "welcome home."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a shot rang out. Steve lifted his shield to protect them, but he didn't hear anything hit it. He looked around trying to find where the shot had come from. "Steve," Natasha gasped beside him. Steve turned to face her, finding her face pale and her hand pressed firmly against her side. He looked down to see blood gushing through her fingers. Steve felt the blood pounding in his ears as he reached out to grab her. She looked up at him, the fear evident in her eyes before collapsing into his arms.

* * *

Наталия - "Natalia" in Russian

Please follow, favorite, and review :)


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

"Natasha," Steve shouted as he attempted to shake her back to consciousness. He gently laid her on the ground and began putting pressure on the bullet wound. _Come on, Nat. Please._ Seconds later Tony came flying into the clearing with Clint.

"What the hell happened?" Clint yelled, sprinting over.

"Tony, we've got to get her to the jet, now." Steve kept his hands where they were as he waited for Tony to pick her up.

"What about Strucker?" Thor called through his comms.

"We'll have to worry about him later. Just get back to the jet. The longer we wait, the worse she's going to get," Steve replied. "Banner, I need you to prep what you can to help her."

"On it Cap." Tony scooped her up and quickly flew off to the jet. Clint and Steve ran after them getting to the Quinjet a couple minutes later. Tony had already gotten out of his suit, and the plane took off as soon as the other two got there. Steve set his shield down and walked over to where Natasha was laid out on a cot, bandages wrapped around the wound.

"The bullet didn't exit," Bruce said gently. "I can't run any scans right now to be sure, but it doesn't seem like it hit anything major either."

"So, she should be okay?" Steve asked as he sat down next to her.

"It seems like it. She will need surgery to get the bullet out, but other than that, she should be fine," Bruce replied. Steve let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding in as he looked over her. Her hair was matted to her head from the sweat and dirt. She looked pale and smaller than he'd ever seen her look before.

"Thank you, Bruce," Steve whispered as he carefully took one of Natasha's hands in his own.

Bruce nodded at Steve, giving him a small smile. "I gave her some pain medicine too, so she should stay out until we get back to the tower. Tony has JARVIS calling some surgeons right now so that they'll be there when we land."

Clint, who had been standing by listening to the conversation, thanked Bruce before gently placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. "I doubt you'll take me up on it, but if at any point you want to switch watching over her, let me know," he gave Steve a knowing look before walking up to the cockpit to join Tony in flying the plane.

"I am glad that Lady Natasha will be okay," Thor smiled at Steve and Bruce before taking a seat on the opposite side of the plane.

"I'll go grab some more bandages in case they need changed along the way," Bruce said before walking away.

Steve gently took his free hand and brushed her hair away from her face. Bruce's reassurance that Natasha would be okay helped, but Steve could still feel himself on edge. _Make it through this, Nat. I can't lose you._ Steve sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, Natasha's hand still wrapped safely in his. Clint was right, he wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

When the jet landed, the surgeons that Tony had called came rushing in and whisked Natasha away. Steve tried to follow after them, but Clint pulled him back, telling him that the doctors would let them know when they could see her. Steve began to protest, but ultimately acquiesced stalking off to his floor. He quickly changed out of his suit, throwing on a dry fit t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He thought about laying down until the doctors came and got him, but his brain was racing at a million miles an hour. _It's my fault,_ he thought to himself. _I was too slow. If I'd had my shield up sooner, she wouldn't have been hit._

Steve sat on the edge of his bed, his elbows braced against his knees, and buried his face in his hands. Memories of Natasha getting shot played through his head on a loop. _It's your fault._

"JARVIS," he shouted.

"Yes Captain Rogers?"

"Notify me when Natasha is out of surgery. I'll be in the gym," Steve replied.

"Yes sir," JARVIS answered.

Steve quickly laced up his shoes before getting in the elevator to go down to the gym. When he walked in, he immediately headed over to the treadmill, setting it on a high incline and up to where he was running at a full sprint. He'd been on it for about 10 minutes and had already run 4 miles when he decided to stop.

An hour had passed since Steve went down to the gym when Clint finally came in the door.

"Hey man, JARVIS said you were down here. Tasha is out of – woah, dude you alright?" Clint looked around the room. Steve was standing in the middle of several broken punching bags. The contents of the bags scattered about the floor around him.

Steve brought his shirt up to his face, wiping the sweat off, "yeah I'm fine. Let's go see Nat."

"Dude, you're not fine," Clint said, stepping over the broken bags. "What's up?"

Steve sighed, "I should've protected her," he whispered. "If I'd been quicker or paying more attention to what was going on around us, I-"

"Don't do that to yourself," Clint replied. "This wasn't your fault."

"It was though." Steve turned back to the punching bag, hitting it once again, "we knew she could've been a target and I still let her go. I told you I had her back. If I'd have gotten my shield up in time, she wouldn't have been shot." Steve became more aggressive in his punches, "I could've lost her. She could've died and that would've been all on me." He sent the bag careening off of the hook and it exploded against the wall.

"Steve, she's not going to blame you for this. We don't blame you for this. The choice for her to go ahead with the mission as planned was something that we all thought was a good call. We thought the tracker would be enough. Look," Clint said walking closer to Steve, "I know you have feelings for her-"

"What? I don't-" Steve was cut off by the look that Clint gave him.

"I see everything, remember?" Clint replied with a raised eyebrow and a laugh. Steve began to blush over his already red cheeks. "I know you have feelings for her, and I know you want to protect her. Yeah, today was scary, but it comes with the job. You can't blame yourself. Do you know how many times she's been shot on missions with me?"

"Do I really want to know?" Steve grumbled.

Clint shrugged, "probably not. But I will say that it's way more than the amount of times it's happened to her when she's with you. You can't protect her from everything."

Steve nodded and sighed, "thanks Clint."

"You're welcome." Steve began to walk toward the doors when Clint stopped him again, "you may want to shower before you go up there. The drugs they have her on are pretty strong, but I don't know that even they could mask your smell." Steve laughed but hesitated for a moment. "The doctors said she probably won't be up for another couple hours. Don't worry about it, you've got time."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows at Clint, a smile creeping across his face, "I'm beginning to think you might also be a mind reader, Barton."

Clint laughed as he walked out of the room. Steve stood there for a moment longer and took a deep breath, _she's going to be just fine._

* * *

Steve sat beside Natasha's bed, her hand wrapped in his as he read his book. Natasha bought him his own set because she had gotten him hooked on the _Harry Potter_ series and wouldn't let him watch any of the movies until he completed the books. He had already finished the first two and had started on the third one on the way back from their last mission to find Bucky. He looked up from his book when he felt a small squeeze on his hand. Steve was met with emerald green eyes shining back at him, a drugged-up smile placed delicately on Natasha's lips.

"Hey soldier," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Steve returned her smile, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest at the sight of her. "How are you feeling?" He asked gently.

"You know, I've felt better," she teased.

Steve chuckled, "you're a smart ass, you know that?"

"You wouldn't like me otherwise."

Steve smiled again, "yeah I suppose not." They sat in silence for a few minutes, Steve nervously rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows at him, "what are you talking about Rogers?"

"I should've been faster," he said, looking up to meet her eyes again.

"It wasn't your fault Steve. I used to know Strucker, I should've expected he would try to kill me."

"I told you nothing was going to happen to you," he argued.

"And I told you I didn't need saving," she shot back. She raised an eyebrow at him challenging him to continue arguing with her.

A smile spread across Steve's face, "fair enough."

A self-satisfied grin spread across her face. "Mmmm, that's what I thought." She stared at him for a minute before reaching up and gently placed her hand on the side of his face, "seriously Steve, it's not your fault."

He leaned slightly into her hand and drew in a deep breath, "okay. But I still feel bad, so whatever you want, I'll get it or do it for you."

A smirk spread across her face, "anything?"

Steve lifted an eyebrow, "foot rub?"

"You know me too well, Rogers," Natasha laughed.

Steve laughed, scooting further down on the bed so he could grab one of her feet, "it would be my pleasure, Nat."

* * *

First of all, thank you guys so much for your support with this story! I can't believe how wonderful and supportive you guys have been about it, I'm just overwhelmed with love and joy.

Secondly, it won't be much longer before Steve and Natasha admit their feelings about one another. So, the wait is almost over!

Please leave reviews, favorite, and follow! I love knowing what you guys think about the story.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

Please leave reviews, follow, and favorite!

* * *

Steve stayed with Natasha through the night, keeping his promise of doing anything that she asked him to do while he was there. She was released the following morning and given strict instructions to avoid physical activity for the next two weeks while she healed.

"You do realize that I'm a spy, right? This is literally what I do," Natasha complained as Steve took her up to her room.

"Nat, it's two weeks. You'll live." Steve rolled his eyes, despite the smile firmly planted on his face. He knew that she was going to throw a fit about it, but he was determined to try and make the best of the situation for her.

"No, Rogers, I won't. Tony already had JARVIS lock me out of the gym. I'm going to die up here," Natasha whined. The elevator slowed to a stop on her floor and Steve gently scooped her back up in his arms and carried her into her apartment. He walked over to her couch and carefully set her down before sitting down next to her.

"You're being a little dramatic, don't you think?" He teased.

"If you're going to make me stick to this whole no physical activity thing, then no. I'm not being dramatic." Natasha folded her arms over her stomach, accidentally brushing against her stitches and causing her to wince. Steve raised his eyebrows at her, amusement coloring his face. "Shut up," Natasha grumbled, resituating her arms so they weren't pressed against her stitches.

Steve laughed and patted her on the leg before getting up and walking into her kitchen, "yes, I am going to make you stick to this whole 'no physical activity thing,' and I'm going to be here the whole time to make sure you're actually sticking to it."

"You don't have to-"

"What do you want for breakfast, Nat?" Steve called over her.

"Steve, I don't need-"

"Natasha, I know you don't need me to. I know you probably don't necessarily want me to either, but it wasn't me asking permission," Steve stepped around the island in her kitchen and leaned his back against it. He crossed his arms over his chest, pulling the fabric of his t-shirt tightly against his muscles. "No physical activity and I'm staying with you. So, I suggest you make the most of it." Natasha furrowed her eyebrows at him but didn't say anything. "Now, what do you want for breakfast?"

Natasha stared at him for a moment and Steve stared back, daring her to try to continue arguing with him. "French toast and bacon," she grumbled.

Steve smiled at her and unfolded his arms, "coming right up."

"You know I'll probably be healed before the two weeks are up, right? My serum doesn't work nearly as fast as yours does, but it does work pretty quickly."

Steve continued to set out the ingredients that he needed to cook breakfast and began working. "That's fine, then you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy being taken care of until the two weeks are up," Steve glanced up and Natasha and smirked.

Natasha groaned, "why are you such a stickler for the rules, Rogers? I thought I corrupted you enough." She smiled at him for the first time since getting the news that she wouldn't be able to train for two weeks.

Steve shrugged and smiled back at her, "I guess you'll just have to keep trying."

* * *

They spent the majority of the day lazing around on her couch watching more of the movies on Steve's list of things that he missed. It was around 10 p.m. when the final _Jurassic Park_ movie finished up. Halfway through the movie, Natasha had moved to where her head was laying on Steve's lap and was currently fast asleep. Steve smiled and gently shook her shoulder, trying to wake her up.

"Leave me alone," she grumbled. "I'm tired."

Steve chuckled. "Alright Nat, bear with me here," he whispered as he slowly slid his body out from under her head. He carefully scooped her up in his arms and carried her sleeping form back to her room, tucking her into the bed. Natasha had woken up some from the movement but was still half asleep. He gently brushed the hair back out of her face, earning him a sleepy smile from her. "I'll be right outside on the couch," he said softly. "Let me know if you need anything."

Natasha mumbled something and rolled onto her side. Steve looked at her for a moment, hesitating slightly before leaning down and giving her a small kiss on the forehead. He half expected Natasha to wake up swinging when he did, but she just hummed and snuggled further into her pillows. Steve smiled as he walked out of her room, leaving the door cracked slightly so he could hear her if she called for him. He sighed and walked over to the couch, grabbing one of the giant blankets she had thrown over her armchair, bringing it with him. He laid back on the too small couch trying to get comfortable, his legs dangling over the arm of it from his knees down. Steve threw his arm over his eyes before trying to fall asleep. He laid like that for about five minutes before deciding to see if there was a more comfortable position. When he sat up to move, he made eye contact with Natasha who was standing by his feet at the end of the couch frowning.

"Nat, what are you doing?" He asked. "Go back to bed." He pulled his legs back over the edge of the couch and attempted to get comfortable once more.

Natasha folded her arms across her chest, her too big t-shirt sliding off of one of her shoulders. "You're not sleeping on the couch for two weeks Rogers."

Steve sighed and sat up to face her, "I already told you that I'm staying with you, so yes I am."

"No, you're not," she replied as she reached forward and grabbed the blanket off of him. Steve frowned and began to reach back for it, "go to my bed. I'll sleep out here. I fit better on the couch than you do."

This time Steve folded his arms across his chest, "you're not sleeping on the couch Nat, you're hurt."

"I'm fine Steve, now move so I can go to sleep."

Steve turned and kicked his legs out on the couch so she couldn't sit down on the couch, "go back to bed. I'm sleeping here."

Natasha huffed, "no you're not. You go to bed."

"No," he replied raising an eyebrow at her in challenge.

Natasha returned the look, sitting herself down on the arm of the couch, "well then it looks like neither one of us is going to sleep then because I'm not moving."

"Natasha," Steve groaned.

"Steven," Natasha mocked.

Steve sighed, "you're really not going to leave unless I let you sleep on the couch?"

Natasha smirked, "nope." She sat there for a moment, expecting him to give in, but he was unyielding. "You're really not going to let me sleep on the couch?" She asked.

This time Steve smirked, "nope."

The two of them silently stood off against one another, neither one of them backing down. A couple minutes passed before Natasha stood up from the arm of the couch. The smirk returned to Steve's face, thinking that he had finally won out over her.

"Well," Natasha started, "I'm tired." When she didn't move to leave, Steve furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion. "Let's go to bed."

"What?" Steve gasped, clearly surprised at Natasha's suggestion.

"If you won't let me sleep on the couch. I won't let you sleep on the couch, and you're staying here, there's only one option left. So, come on, let's go to bed."

"Uhhh, I-well, Nat are you-" Steve sputtered.

Natasha rolled her eyes, an amused expression falling over her face. "We're just sleeping, Steve." She looked up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment before adding, "and maybe some cuddling." She looked back at him, even in the dark she could tell that he was blushing. She half expected him to relent and let her have the couch, too embarrassed or concerned about sleeping in the same bed as her.

Steve drew in a deep breath and ran his palms along the knees of his sweats before standing up. Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to say something before he swept an arm out towards her bedroom, raising his eyebrows in return. Natasha discretely bit her lip and walked back into her bedroom. Steve gently shut the door to her bedroom behind them, climbing into bed beside her. Her bed was fairly large, so he thought that she would probably keep to herself, not that he necessarily _wanted_ her to. However, much to his surprise and delight, she scooted herself closer to his side. Steve hesitated for a moment, but eventually laid an arm out, inviting her to lay her head on his chest. She looked up at him for a minute and he was just about to pull his arm back when she smiled and cuddled up against him, both of them letting out soft sighs, their bodies relaxing at the touch of the other. Steve gently wrapped his arm around Natasha, pulling her even tighter against him. He felt her smile against his chest, causing his heart to flutter. If she noticed how fast his heart was racing, she didn't say anything. Steve could feel himself already being pulled into a deep sleep, which was a stark contrast to his typical fight to fall asleep that he struggled with every night.

"Goodnight Steve," she whispered sleepily.

"Goodnight Nat," he whispered back, leaning his head down slightly to kiss the top of her head.

Natasha hummed in content, "Oh, Steve?"

"Hmm?" He replied, already drifting off to sleep.

"Don't even think about moving back out to the couch."

Steve laughed a little bit, "I'm not going anywhere, Nat." He drew in a breath, and before he could even exhale, the both of them had drifted off to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

The following morning, Steve woke up confused about where he was. He moved slightly, feeling Natasha's sleeping figure in his arms. A smile came across his face as he gently angled his head so he could look down at her. Steve was laying on his side, Natasha's small figure was pulled flush against his body, his arms wrapped tightly around her. His heart was racing in his chest as he studied her features. Her hair was tousled and strewn across her face, and her mouth was slightly open as she quietly snored. The light was gently filtering through the curtains illuminating her hair and skin; she was breathtaking.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to the crown of her head, giving her a gentle kiss. Natasha hummed and squirmed slightly in his arms, pressing herself closer to him. Steve chuckled and released one of his arms to brush her hair back out of her face, catching a whiff of her shampoo as he did so. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent, enjoying the dizzying effect that it had on him. He wasn't exactly sure what time it was, but he was pretty positive that Natasha was going to want breakfast whenever she did wake up. Steve's body ached at the thought of getting out of bed, but he also wanted to surprise her by making her favorite strawberry crepes before she woke up.

Steve slid his arm out from under her head, gently laying her head back down on the pillow. She groaned some at the loss of contact between them but began snoring again seconds later. Steve moved slowly off of the bed, doing his best to make sure that he didn't wake her. He padded into the kitchen, his sweats riding low on his hips, and stretched. His shirt lifted slightly, exposing his toned abdomen. Steve glanced down at the spot, noticing that the couple of wounds he'd sustained on their last mission had healed up completely. He looked over at the clock and noticed that it was already 9 a.m. He hadn't slept past 5 a.m. since he'd gotten out of the ice. _You must've been pretty comfortable there, Rogers._ A smile spread across Steve's face as he thought about holding Natasha in his arms. He resisted the urge to climb back into bed with her, instead opening up the fridge so he could get breakfast started.

* * *

Natasha stretched, instantly recoiling at the pulling pain in her side from her stitches. She turned over in bed, expecting Steve's sleeping figure to still be there, but frowned when she saw he was gone. Natasha kicked the covers off of her body, moving slowly as her stitches rubbed uncomfortably on her side. She glanced at the window noticing that the sun was already up. _That's unusual._ She reached over to her nightstand, grabbing her cellphone. 10:15 a.m. _I haven't slept past 6 for years._ She thought about it for a moment longer. _No bad dreams last night either._ A smile ghosted over her lips, _looks like Rogers has the special touch._ Her smile transformed into a mischievous one thinking about what other kinds of special touches he might have. She was about to get lost in her own daydream when she noticed the potent smell of strawberries coming from her living room.

Natasha's eyebrows knitted together, as she pushed herself up off of the bed. She opened up the door, even more delicious food scents wafting over her. She found Steve in the kitchen, humming lightly as he cooked. Natasha smiled and walked over to the couch, leaning against the armrest and folding her arms.

"Hey there MasterChef," she teased. Steve looked up at her, an infectious smile spreading across his face.

"Hey, you're up just in time! I was just getting ready to wake you." He quickly reached down, shutting off the stove before walking over to the little table sitting right outside her kitchen. He walked up behind one of the chairs, pulling it out and raising his eyebrows at her. "M'lady," he flashed her a dazzling smile as he waited for her to come take a seat. Natasha tossed her head back with a laugh, walking over to him, graciously taking the open seat. Steve pushed her chair in and Natasha turned to look at him. Her breath caught in her chest as she noticed how close their faces were to one another. She noticed the small smirk on his face, almost as if he was hoping this would happen. She watched as his eyes flicked down to her lips, his tongue darting out slightly to wet his lips. _Do it,_ she thought to herself. His eyes moved back from her lips to meet her eyes.

Steve reached his hand behind her neck, beginning to pull her closer to him, the both of them closing their eyes and tilting their heads. Their lips were just about to brush against each other when JARVIS came over the intercom.

"Captain Rogers, I'm sorry to interrupt." Steve sighed and dropped his forehead against Natasha's for a moment before pulling back.

"Yes JARVIS?" Steve responded, his voice a little unsteady.

"Mr. Stark has requested your presence down in the lab. It has to do with the scepter," JARVIS chimed.

Steve stared at Natasha before running his hand through his hair, "tell him I'll be there as soon as I get Nat situated."

"Yes sir," JARVIS replied.

Steve cleared his throat and walked into the kitchen. Natasha felt every cell in her body screaming at her to get up and walk in there to get her kiss but decided against it. She studied Steve as he worked to put together a plate for her. She noticed the creases in his forehead as he concentrated on getting everything on the plate. She noticed the way that his shirt pulled against his muscles, how when he moved just right she could see the dips of his hip bones. _He's perfect._ Natasha was so engrossed in her own thoughts that it took her by surprise when she glanced back up at his face to see him staring back at her. He gave her a half smile before walking over to the table and setting the plate in front of her.

"Crepes, fruit salad, and hash browns?" She asked, surprised.

"Figured you deserved a treat," he said with a shrug. "You go ahead and eat. I'll get some when I get back. I'll try not to take too long." He stared at her for a moment longer and Natasha was almost convinced he was going to kiss her before he left, but he just reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze before heading out the door.

"Great timing JARVIS," Natasha huffed after Steve left.

"My apologies Agent Romanoff," JARVIS replied.

Natasha rolled her eyes and dug in to her breakfast.

* * *

"What is it?" Steve asked as he walked into the lab, attempting to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"We've got another reading on the scepter. This time it's popping up around Sokovia," Bruce said, pulling his glasses off of his face.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, "another reading already?"

"Already," Tony confirmed.

"It's only been two days since the last one."

"It's the strongest reading we've had since this search started," Bruce replied.

"We want to check it out," Tony added.

Steve shook his head, reaching his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I don't know."

"Cap, I think we should move."

Steve walked over to the computer and studied the screen. He was quiet for a few minutes as he ran through the different scenarios. "We do nothing for now."

"But Cap-" Tony interjected.

"We do nothing for now," Steve repeated. "We need to be sure we're following the right lead. Bruce, keep your search wide, but also keep a close eye on the area in Sokovia. I want you to note any changes that you find." Bruce nodded.

"Are you sure this is the right call, Cap?" Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

Steve nodded confidently, "yes. We need to be sure this time. We could've lost a teammate the last time."

"I think this is the right way to go about it too, Tony. You and I can find smaller Hydra cells and mark them in the meantime." Bruce opened up a file next to him and began going through it.

"How long do we want to wait?" Tony asked.

"As soon as Natasha's cleared. If the ping in Sokovia comes through, we'll act then." Neither Tony nor Bruce disagreed with him. Steve clapped his hands together, "if you guys need me I'll be with Nat."

"Don't worry, we'll try not to need you," Tony shouted after him. Steve kept walking, not looking back, but lifted up his hand and flipped Tony off as he disappeared into the elevator.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi guys! I'm so sorry for the super late update! I'm going out of town this weekend for my best friend's bachelorette party, so I won't be able to post, but as soon as I get back I'll be posting again. So look for a new update either Sunday night or Monday. As always, please leave reviews, follow, and favorite!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

Author's Note: You guys have been waiting for it, and it's finally here! ;) Warning: Some soft smut, but it has the potential to turn into some true smut later in the story. That being said, the rating will probably go up after this chapter just to be safe!

Please review, follow, and favorite!

* * *

The two weeks that it took Natasha to recover seemed to fly by. Even when she appeared to be healed after a little over a week, Steve kept good on his word that he wasn't going to let her begin training until she finished out the full two weeks of bed rest. Steve also kept good on his word that he wasn't leaving until the time was up, either. Their routine every single day was almost domestic. Steve would usually wake up before Natasha to cook her breakfast (he'd become quite the chef with all of the spare time that they had). Then, after breakfast, they would go into the living room where they would watch movies or TV. In the afternoons, Steve would normally break out his sketch pad, while Natasha sat nearby and read. At night they would watch a movie on Steve's list before retiring to bed. Every night when it was time to go to sleep, Steve would crawl into bed first, reaching his arm out so Natasha could cuddle up next to him and lay her head on his chest. Natasha's nightmares had seemed to subside whenever she was wrapped in Steve's arms, and Steve was sure that it was the most rested he had felt since coming out of the ice years earlier.

The only time that Steve would leave Natasha's side was when Tony or Bruce would call him down to the lab for an update on the scepter that they were tracking in Sokovia. The reading on it hadn't changed since the first time that it showed up, so it was looking like that was where they would be headed as soon as Natasha was better. On the last day that Natasha was confined to bed rest, Steve allowed her to go with him down to the lab so they could talk through the plan.

"We've found five smaller HYDRA cells while tracking the scepter in Sokovia. I'm sure there are more, but for now, these are the ones popping up," Bruce said.

"Keep in mind that Hill and Fury are rebuilding SHIELD, so we can continue to run this algorithm for them to send in teams to deal with other small cells," Tony chimed.

"You've gotten in contact with Thor and Barton?" Steve asked as he studied the screen in front of him.

"Sent out the message this morning," Tony replied.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought for a moment before turning to face Natasha. "You think you're feeling up to this?"

A smile spread across her face, "you know I've been itching to get back out there."

"I didn't realize spending time with me was so bad," he teased.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Я думаю, это не самый худший способ провести время." ( _I guess it's not the worst way to spend my time)._ She smirked at him as he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Осторожно, или я возьму это как комплимент, Романов," ( _Be careful, or I'll take that as a compliment, Romanoff)._ Steve replied without missing a beat.

"Woah, woah, no," Tony shouted walking closer to them, "no. When did Capsicle learn Russian?"

Steve shrugged, "she's been on bed rest for two weeks. She got bored-"

"and he wanted to learn. He picked it up pretty easily," Natasha finished.

Tony was about to say something else when Bruce interrupted the conversation, "focus Tony, we need a plan."

"Banner's right," Steve said, refocusing on the information in front of him, "tomorrow when Thor and Barton get here, we're shipping out. We take out the smaller HYDRA cells first before moving on to Sokovia to retrieve the scepter." He glanced around the room before continuing, "everyone get a good night's rest because tomorrow is going to be a long day." The other Avengers nodded in agreeance before everyone went back to doing their own thing.

"So, you're letting me go on the mission?" Natasha asked as they stepped into the elevator.

"You said you feel up to it, right?" Steve looked down at her, his eyes a mixture of amusement and concern.

"Absolutely," Natasha replied, a smile spreading across her face.

Steve relaxed a little bit, "then yes, you're going on the mission." The elevator dinged as they got to Natasha's floor, the pair of them walking out together. Steve walked into the room and looked around for a moment before he started to gather his sketch pad and some other items of his.

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, "what are you doing?"

Steve stopped and looked up at her, "well, you don't really need me down here anymore, and I don't want to keep intruding-"

"You're not intruding," Natasha interrupted. She crossed her arms across her chest and sat down on one of the barstools in her kitchen.

Steve set his things back down and raised an eyebrow at her, "you should still get a good night's sleep since this will be your first mission back in the field since getting hurt."

"And I'm supposed to get that without you?" She challenged.

A smirk found it's way to Steve's lips, "are you asking me to stay the night, Romanoff?"

"I can't sleep well without you."

"Me either," Steve replied.

Natasha stretched and got up from the chair, walking over to where Steve was standing, her body nearly pressed up against his, "then I suppose the only reasonable thing for you to do would be to stay," she said in a low sultry voice.

"Hmmm," he pretended to think it over for a moment, which earned him an eyeroll from Natasha, "I suppose you're right. It would only be reasonable." He stared down at her, lost in her emerald green eyes which were shining back at him in the dim light of her apartment.

"Well then, I suppose we'd better get to bed, Captain." Natasha ran her hand down Steve's arm before walking toward the bedroom, her hips swinging enticingly as she went. She stopped as she reached the door to the bedroom, turning around to look at him, prompting him to follow her before disappearing into the room.

Steve hadn't tried to kiss her again since JARVIS last interrupted them, but he knew he was going to try again soon. It just couldn't be tonight, they needed to focus on the mission at hand, but Steve knew he couldn't hold out much longer. Not when she was constantly looking at him the way she does, not when he noticed how she bit on her bottom lip whenever she was reading something particularly interesting, and most definitely not when she walked away from him like that. _Soon,_ he promised himself as he followed after her. _Not tonight, but soon._

* * *

The mission to get the scepter back was successful. The lullaby that Natasha had been practicing with Banner had worked better than ever, and thanks to Dr. Cho, Clint was going to be just fine. The two enhanced that they ran in to whenever they were in the field were a cause for concern, but that was something that they would worry about later. For now, Tony wanted everyone to celebrate a job well done, inviting some people to stay after and celebrate.

Thor had brought back some Asgardian Ale which he'd been sharing with Steve. Steve didn't really like the taste, however, he was quite fond of the way that it thrummed through his body, causing him to feel a little buzzed, something that he hadn't felt since before the serum.

He continued sipping on it from one of the upper levels of the common room with Thor as he looked out over the party. He noticed Natasha standing behind the bar, making a few drinks for Maria and Pepper, while she talked with the girls. She looked amazing, her hair was perfect as always, and the dress she was wearing reminded him of something he would have seen someone wear back in the 40s. She looked like perfection. He noticed her look up from the drinks that she was making to meet his eyes, blushing slightly as she noticed him staring at her. She smiled at him and he smiled back before she turned her attention back to the women sitting in front of her. Steve quickly threw back the rest of the ale in his cup, quickly giving himself a refill before walking down the stairs to the bar. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was actually getting drunk, or if it was the adrenaline running through his veins, but as he got closer to her, his heart began to beat faster and faster.

Pepper and Maria had walked away from the bar to go join in on other conversations, leaving Natasha alone to make her own drink. She had seen Steve making his way to her and her heart skipped a beat, but she did her best to keep it cool while she continued working on her drink.

"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" Steve teased as he approached the bar.

Natasha set the shaker up on the counter and pulled a glass out from under the bar. "Fella done me wrong," she replied, a small smile dancing at her lips.

Steve nodded, bringing his drink up to his lips, "you got lousy taste in men, kid."

Natasha poured the contents of the shaker into her glass, looking up to meet his gaze. "I'd like to think it's improved recently," she responded. He could tell just by looking at her that she was feeling a buzz too. She wasn't the type to get drunk at a party, especially around people she didn't know, but she would at least have enough to relax herself.

Steve raised his eyebrow at her, "how so?" He felt his hands become sweaty.

"Well, this guy," she started, taking a sip of her drink before leaning her elbows on the counter and leaning in towards him, "he's a bit of an old soul. Someone who really values things not many other people these days do. I mean, don't get me wrong, he can be a real stickler for the rules sometimes, which can be a bit of a pain," she laughed and gave him a smile, "but he knows what's right, and he's not afraid to fight for it."

Steve smiled at her, "he sounds interesting."

"He's absolutely amazing," Natasha responded. She lifted her drink up to her lips again, "he's also a bit of an artistic type." Steve began to blush, "chicks dig that."

Steve cleared his throat. "They do?" he asked before taking another big drink of his ale.

Natasha hummed, "oh yeah they do." She set her drink down on the counter before her demeanor changed slightly, her flirtatious manner was gone, and she was suddenly serious. "So, what do you think? Should I fight this? Or run with it?"

Steve took another drink, finishing off the contents of his glass before setting it down, and leaning in closer toward her. Typically, he would feel nervous having this conversation with her, but his desire to be with her, as well as the alcohol in his body was drowning out any fears he had. "I think you should run with it," he responded.

Natasha bit her lip, "I was thinking so too." They stared at each other for a minute, both of their bodies aching to close the distance that the counter was putting between them. "You want to get out of here, soldier?" She asked, low and sultry.

A smirk broke out across Steve's face, "I was hoping you'd ask." Natasha came out from behind the bar and grabbed Steve's hand as she walked them over to the elevator. Once inside with the doors shut, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I meant to ask you, what'd this guy do that was so wrong to you?" Steve said, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

"Oh," Natasha replied with a devilish smile. "Well, he was about to kiss me one day before duty called, and then he made me wait two weeks before even thinking about trying again."

Steve quickly flipped her around and pushed her up against the wall of the elevator, causing it to shake lightly. Natasha gasped at the force, but quickly pulled herself together, welcoming Steve's lips which were descending quickly upon her own. "What an ass," he murmured before lacing their lips together. The two of them moved in complete sync, even when the elevator signaled their arrival at Natasha's floor. Steve effortlessly picked Natasha up, and she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Natasha moved her lips away from his, working down his neck as he walked them into her room.

"If it makes you feel any better," he said breathlessly as she kissed on his neck. "I'm sure he was thinking about it every second of every day." Natasha hummed and brought her lips back to his. He kissed her for a moment before throwing her onto the bed and pinning her beneath his body. "Thinking about kissing you, thinking about kissing on your neck-" he moved his lips to her neck, kissing there for a few moments, "-thinking about what sounds you would make when he did." Natasha's breath hitched in her throat before she felt his lips back on her neck, drawing a long and needy moan from her. Steve growled slightly at the sound before continuing on, "thinking about how you would feel squirming beneath him, about how delicious your lips would taste. Darling, I'm sure he was driving himself crazy thinking about you." He pulled back and looked at her. Her hair was a mess around her head, her lips were slightly swollen from all of the kissing, and her face was flushed. He was still sure that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

She quickly laced her fingers around his neck before flipping him over, switching their positions, "then I think it's about time I show him." She smiled down at him as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. She met his eyes again, she could see the desire swimming in them, the restraint it was taking him not to rip her clothes off at that exact moment. "Are you sure this is what you want, Steve?" She asked, her heart racing.

Steve leaned up, her body still on top of him, bringing his hand up to her face to brush the apple of her cheek. He cupped the side of her face, slowly moving in to give Natasha another kiss. It was sweet and slow, but still conveyed every bit of passion he was feeling. "Does that answer your question?" He whispered when he pulled away. Natasha nodded her head gently, her eyes still closed, still overwhelmed with the intensity of the kiss. "Good," he whispered again, as he picked her up and laid her back on the bed. Any doubts she had were instantly quelched at the feeling of his body pressed over her. She gladly gave herself over to him, letting any final walls she had up, be broken down.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

This is just a short chapter before the appearance of Ultron!

Please leave reviews, favorite, and follow!

* * *

Natasha dropped her head onto Steve's chest, letting out a satisfied sigh. Steve smiled as he kissed the top of her head. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled the blanket up over the top of them. Natasha hummed, relishing in the feeling of Steve's bare skin against hers.

"Worth the wait?" He teased.

Natasha turned her head up to face him, "well worth it." She brought her hand up to the side of his face and pulled him in for another lazy kiss. Steve gladly obliged, deepening the kiss seconds after her lips found his. When they finally broke apart, the two of them laid there in silence, Steve absent-mindedly playing with her hair, while Natasha drew different shapes along the dips of his abs.

"Nat," Steve said gently.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering-well, I just-I don't want to assume, but, uh-sorry, nevermind," Steve stumbled over his words, not completely sure that he wanted an answer to his question.

"Steve, what is it?" She asked as she turned and pushed herself up on her elbows to face him.

Steve reached over and brushed her hair back, gently smoothing it down in the places that it was sticking up. He drew in a deep breath before continuing, "I guess I didn't know if this was going to be sex or-"

"I want this," she whispered.

"You do?" Steve asked, trying to process what she said.

Natasha nodded, giving him a warm smile. "I mean, that is if you think you can handle me, Golden Boy," she teased.

Steve chuckled and pulled her back on top of him. "I think I just proved I can do better than just handling you," he whispered, his voice gravely in Natasha's ear. Natasha felt her stomach tighten and a small moan escape from her lips at the sound of his voice. "You alright there, love?" Steve whispered low against her skin as he took a single finger and traced along her spine. Natasha dug her nails into the upper portion of Steve's bicep and whimpered slightly. Steve chuckled and rolled them over onto their sides. He gently brought his lips down onto hers placing a sweet kiss there before pulling back to look at her face. He smiled at her, brushing her firey red hair away from her face.

Natasha's phone buzzed from where it was with her clothes on the floor. Steve leaned back and snagged it from on the ground, handing it over to her before wrapping his arms back around her.

"It's from Clint," she said with a laugh. "He asked where I am."

Steve laughed and kissed the top of her head, "tell him you're busy."

"You planning on keeping me here, Rogers?" Natasha teased, tilting her phone down to give him a kiss.

"Oh, absolutely," he replied, pulling her flush against his body. Natasha giggled against his chest, taking in a deep breath and humming at their proximity.

"Are we going to tell everyone?" She asked after a moment.

"Do you want to tell everyone?"

Natasha thought about it for a moment, "I do, but I also kind of want to enjoy it without everyone else being involved for a while."

"Then we'll wait to tell everyone for now," Steve replied with a smile.

Natasha tilted her head up to kiss him, and pushed him over onto his back, quickly throwing her leg over Steve's torso to straddle him, "you're perfect," she murmured against his lips before moving down to kiss his neck. Steve moaned and grabbed onto her hips, earning a gasp of surprise from her. Things were just beginning to pick up in intensity when Natasha's phone buzzed again. She groaned and dropped her forehead against Steve's before leaning over to pick it up. "Alright, they're on to us. We'd better get down there." Natasha climbed off of Steve and walked over to the pile of her clothes that were sitting on the floor.

She bent over to pick up her bra when Steve wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her back onto the bed. "You sure you want to leave?" He whispered, bringing his lips down on her neck and peppering it with kisses.

Natasha rolled her head back and leaned it on Steve's shoulder, letting her eyes flutter shut at the intensity of the sensation. Steve gently batted the bra out of her hand and flipped her around to face him, dipping his head down to kiss the peaks of her breasts. "Steve," she moaned.

"Yes love?" He responded, barely lifting his lips up off of her skin to reply.

"We've got to go," she huffed.

Steve chuckled low and released her, "alright, fine." He gave her a sweet smile before climbing up off of the bed.

Natasha grabbed his arm as he walked past to grab his pants, causing him to turn and face her, "we'll continue this later though, right?"

"Mmm, definitely," he hummed as he leaned in to give her one more kiss.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters!

Author's Note: First off, Happy 4th of July (and Happy Birthday Steve Rogers)! I hope everyone in the U.S. has a wonderful and safe day.

Second, I went a different direction with Natasha's vision, as well as her backstory. Personally, I feel like having her be sterilized was a cop-out on Whedon's part, so I decided to omit it. That being said, I hope you guys like what I ended up doing with it.

Please review, follow, and favorite! :)

* * *

"Whoever's standing, we gotta move!" Clint shouted into his comms. After discovering Ultron's plan to get ahold of the vibranium that Ulysses Klaue had stolen from Wakanda, the Avengers had gone to a salvage yard on the African Coast to stop him. Currently, they were fighting off Ultron and the two enhanced humans that they'd met in Sokovia when they were looking for the scepter. Everything had been going good until the girl started doing something to mind control everyone. Thor, Steve, and Natasha were all down. "Guys?" Clint called again. Clint's words were like a whisper compared to the intensity of the vision that Natasha was experiencing.

 _She was back in the red room watching as some of the other girls in the program practiced ballet. Natasha entered the room and mirrored their movements, earning her praise from the trainers, as well as glares from the other girls in the room. Natasha was very obviously the favorite of the red room, and many of the other girls resented her for that. All except for one. A small girl named Amelia who was a couple years younger than Natasha, and a star within her own Black Widow class, had grown to admire and befriend Natasha. The two girls worked closely with one another, honing each other's skills. The red room discouraged friendships but allowed for this one to happen because it was clear that the girls would still choose their duty over the friendship._

 _That is until one particular sparing match that took place a couple days before Natasha was set to graduate from the red room. Amelia and Natasha had been paired up to spar against one another and were doing so under the watchful eye of Madame B. Amelia took an aggressive shot at Natasha, one that she had anticipated, but the only other shot that she had back at Amelia was a shot to the throat. So, Natasha allowed for the punch to connect, knocking the wind out of her as she fell back onto the ground._

" _Amelia, you are free to leave," Madame B said coldly from where she was observing. Amelia nodded toward her, glancing at Natasha with worry coloring her face before turning around and disappearing._

 _Madame B walked over to where Natasha had pulled herself up off of the floor, her expression unreadable. "Sloppy. Pretending to fail."_

" _I'm sorry Madame," Natasha replied, hanging her head. "It was a poor call."_

" _We don't deal in poor calls," Madame B spat. "You are to be the Black Widow, do you understand? You are to show no mercy, do as you are told, and get the job done." She took another step closer to Natasha, glaring down at her dangerously, "I expect you to complete the ceremony as required. You don't make the calls, we do."_

" _Yes ma'am," Natasha replied._

" _The ceremony is necessary for you to take your place in the world."_

" _I have no place in the world." Natasha's voice was cold and disconnected, nothing at all like the war that was raging inside of her._

" _Exactly," Madame B called as she walked out of the room._

She came to long enough to notice Clint sitting next to her, attempting to comfort her, before being pulled back in.

 _The vision had skipped forward a couple of days to her graduation ceremony. She had passed all of the previous tests and was brought into a room where a lone figure was sat, tied up on a chair. The person had a bag over their head, and was slumped over, no longer trying to fight against the restraints. Natasha felt Madame B's presence behind her as the door to the room shut behind them. With a gesture from the Madame, one of the trainers walked over to the figure and yanked the bag off of their head._

" _Amelia," Natasha whispered, staring wide with disbelief at her. Amelia's face was bruised, she had a fat lip, a cut above her eyebrow, and the beginnings of a black eye forming. Her eyes were brimmed with tears as she stared back at Natasha. "What's she doing here?" Natasha asked, regaining her composure._

" _She's the final stage of the ceremony," Madame B answered grabbing the handgun out of the hands of the trainer who brought it over to her. She held it out to Natasha expectantly. "Kill her," she commanded. Amelia screamed and began pulling against the restraints, attempting to break free, but it was no use._

 _Natasha took a deep breath, the words that the Madame had spoken to her just days prior replaying in her head. She grabbed the gun out of Madame B's hand, slowly raising it towards Amelia. Amelia screamed again, this time with tears falling from her eyes. "Natasha, please. Please don't Natasha! We're friends, please," she begged._

 _Natasha blinked, taking in a deep breath and resisting the urge to close her eyes. On the inside, she was screaming too, she was wishing that the roles were reversed, that she could do something about this. She knew the red room though. If she refused to kill Amelia, she would be killed. She would be killed, and then Amelia would be killed anyway. Her heart felt as though it was being ripped in half, but she had a job to do. She kept an indifferent expression as she pulled the trigger, killing Amelia instantly._

" _I don't have friends," she replied coldly, her expression showing no sign of her inner turmoil. The vision slowly began to fade away, Natasha seeing her own face reflected back at her._

* * *

Steve swung the axe at the block of wood sitting in front of him, easily breaking it in half. He sighed and picked up another piece of it, placing it back on the stump he was using, and continuing his routine. He'd checked on Natasha briefly, who assured him she was fine (though reasonably, he knew she wasn't), before he headed outside. He wasn't exactly sure how long he had been out there, but he'd made considerable progress on the pile of wood that Laura had sitting out there, so it had clearly been a while. Every time that he thought that he'd gotten over the vision, it popped back up into his head.

" _We can go home,"_ Peggy's voice rang out in his head. Steve picked up the log that he was about to chop, ripping it in half in frustration. He was sad, sure. Sad that he'd missed on the opportunity for that kind of life with Peggy, but more than anything he felt guilty. He felt like an awful person for the slight feeling of relief he got when he saw Peggy on the dance floor in his vision. He felt awful for the tinge of hope that he got when she said the war was over. The thing that he felt the worst about, however, was the way that his heart skipped a beat when she said they could go home. When he thought of living the life he never got to with her.

His thoughts drifted back to Natasha. He knows that he loves her. That he wants to be with her, which was probably what made it so difficult for him. He felt guilty, almost like he'd cheated on her for wanting his previous life back for a moment. Steve ran his hands through his hair and look towards the house. Through the window he could see Cooper and Lila running around inside. A small smile came to his face as he watched them disappear from one window to reappear in another window. He glanced up to the second floor of the house, noticing Natasha sitting near the window in one of the bedrooms. Steve pulled his shirt up and wiped his face with it as he walked toward the house.

* * *

Natasha heard someone climbing up the stairs and figured that it was Steve since the chopping sounds from outside her window had stopped. No part of her wanted to talk to him about the vision, no part of her wanted to share that part of herself with him, but she also couldn't shake the terror that it made her feel.

"We need to talk," she said as Steve rounded the corner.

Steve nodded and closed the door behind him, sitting on the bed beside her moments later. He waited in silence as she worked through what she wanted to say to him. He wanted to talk to her about his vision too but knew that if he cut her off when she was ready to open up about it, she would close herself off and keep it bottled up. Steve could see her struggling and gently reached over to take her hand in his.

"Amelia," Natasha whispered after a moment. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as she turned to meet his eyes. "In the red room, I had a best friend named Amelia." Steve nodded but kept his eyebrows knitted together as he worked through what she was saying. Natasha explained the vision and Steve sat and quietly listened, offering her his shoulder when she began to cry. "I'm a monster," she murmured against his chest.

Steve quickly pulled her away from his body to look her in the eyes, "you aren't a monster, Natasha. You weren't given a choice. I'm sure that Amelia knew that, too."

"She begged me not to kill her." Natasha averted her gaze from Steve's, pain swirling in her eyes.

"Nat, look at me, you did what you had to. They would have killed you both if you hadn't done what you did. She wouldn't have wanted that, either," Steve replied gently.

Natasha let out a shaky breath, attempting to calm herself. She placed her head on his chest, allowing for him to lay them down on the bed. Natasha reached across his body to grab his free hand, lacing their fingers tightly together. They laid there for a few minutes before Natasha spoke again, "what was your vision about?"

Steve cleared his throat and clamped his eyes shut, "Peggy." He expected for Natasha to pull away from him in anger, feel betrayed by his admission, but she stayed where she was, snuggling even closer to him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered gently.

He tilted his head to look down at her, her emerald eyes staring back up at him, "what?"

"I'm sorry, Steve. That must've been hard for you and unpleasant."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "you don't need to be sorry Nat, I should be. I'm with you, I want to be with you. I care about you so much, and I hate that when I saw Peggy-"

"You felt relieved," Natasha finished for him.

Steve sighed and brought his hand up to his face, wiping down it, "yeah."

"Steve," Natasha said softly, "you don't need to be sorry. In fact, I don't want you to be. She picked things that she knew would be hard on us. That she knew would break us. Your vision did what it was supposed to." She pushed herself up onto her elbows, looking down at his face, "I'm not mad at you Steve. I'm not upset or hurt." She reached up for his face, hesitating before placing her hand against the smooth skin of his cheek, "I know you love me." She drew in a deep breath, looking him directly in the eyes, "and I love you too."

Steve leaned up and interlocked their lips, kissing her sweetly at first before deepening the kiss. "I love you," he breathed a smile dancing on his lips. "You're perfect."

Natasha laughed and pushed him back slightly, "I'm going to remind you of that the next time I don't listen to you in the field."

Steve let out a hearty chuckle before pressing Natasha back into the bed. He continued kissing her for several minutes before pulling back to look at her face, "are you okay? After all of that, I mean."

Natasha nodded, giving him a genuine smile, "are you?"

"Mmm," he hummed against her skin, "I am now."


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

Steve ran inside the U-Gen Lab to find Dr. Cho sitting on the ground, an obvious wound on her side.

"Dr. Cho!" Steve shouted, running over to check on her.

"He's uploading himself into the body," she grunted, her face scrunching up at the pain in her side.

"Where?"

"The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark."

"First I have to find it," Steve replied. His mind was already racing a million miles an hour, formulating a plan. He looked back at Dr. Cho, the worry evident on his face.

"Go," she said firmly.

Steve hesitated for a moment before running off. Once outside, he landed on one of the ramps, looking around for any sign of the Cradle.

"There," Clint said, "It's the truck from the lab, right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver."

"Negative!" Steve shouted, "if that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. I'm going in. We need to draw out Ultron." Steve took a running start off of the overpass he was standing on, jumping off and landing on the top of the truck.

"You're not a match for him, Cap." Clint replied. Natasha smacked him sharply on the arm. "Ow, what was that for? He's not."

Natasha rolled her eyes at him, "set up to drop me in." She unbuckled herself before walking to the back of the jet. She quickly checked over her Widow's bites, making sure that everything was ready to go as she waited for the signal from Clint.

"We've got a window," he called back to her. He began to count down and Natasha climbed up on the top of the motorcycle. "Give 'em hell," he yelled as he pressed the button to release the floor beneath her. Natasha revved the engine on the bike, quickly getting it up to highway speed before it ever touched the ground. When the bike touched down, Natasha sped off, quickly weaving in and out of traffic.

"You lose something, Cap?" She teased, noticing his shield laying on the ground in the middle of the road. She leaned over as she pressed the small button her suit to call the shield to her before picking up speed again and continuing on. "I'm always picking up after you boys," she said with an eyeroll.

"Now? You're going to get sassy now?" Steve teased back as he dodged a punch from Ultron.

"They're heading under the overpass. I've got no shot," Clint huffed from the jet.

"Which way?" Natasha called back.

"You're going to need to take a hard right…..now."

Natasha quickly maneuvered the bike to the right, cutting in front of several cars before finding herself in a back alleyway riddled with pedestrians. She weaved in and out of them, finding herself back on the main road after another mile. She sees Steve fighting Ultron on the top of the car, "Cap!" Natasha tossed him his shield before slamming on the breaks to avoid the massive rock Ultron pulled up in front of her. "Barton, I'm going to need you to draw out those guards," she called, speeding back up to catch up with the truck.

"On it," he replied, whipping the jet around in front of the truck and shooting Ultron several times. "Got 'em." The guards within the truck flew out chasing down the Quinjet, leaving just Steve and Ultron fighting on top of it.

Natasha watched as Steve continued fighting Ultron for a few minutes before he tackled Ultron, sending the both of them hurling into a train that was passing by. "Uh, Nat. You've got incoming. Whatever you're going to do, you need to do it now," Clint said.

"Cap, I'm going in, can you keep him occupied?" Natasha yelled, lining the motorcycle up with the back of the truck.

"What do you think I've been doing?" He huffed pushing himself up off of the floor of the train to block Ultron's punches. Natasha smirked at his annoyance as she propelled herself into the back of the truck. Ultron shot in the cabin of the train, piercing through the metal of the door to the conductor's seat, killing him instantly. "Shit," Steve mumbled under his breath.

Meanwhile, in the back of the truck Natasha was working on disarming the Cradle. The Iron Legions that had returned, modified themselves into rockets to propel the truck and Cradle up into the air.

"The package is airborne. I have a clean shot," Clint called from the jet.

"Negative, I'm still in the truck," Natasha shouted, quickly pulling on cords within the truck to release the Cradle.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Steve yelled as he glanced out the window of the train to see the truck flying through the air.

"Barton just be ready. I'm sending the package to you." Natasha pulled one of the last wires on the Cradle and felt it shift backwards, "and me with it," she muttered low enough that the guys couldn't hear her through the comms.

Steve quickly returned his focus to fighting Ultron and was about to attack when the two enhanced humans that they'd run into previously entered the train car. The girl moved two pieces of broken metal to trap Ultron after the boy had knocked him back as he ran past him.

"Please. Don't do this," Ultron pleaded, looking at the girl.

The girl squinted her eyes and shook her head, "what choice do we have?" Ultron quickly flew off through one of the damaged areas of the train. Both of the enhanced kids looked to Steve for guidance, while he listened in on what was happening through his comms.

"We gotta go Tash!" Clint yelled.

"Here we go," Natasha breathed out, jumping up on top of the Cradle as it slid out of the back of the truck and toward the Quinjet. They were almost to the jet when Natasha was grabbed by Ultron and pulled away.

"Natasha!" Clint screamed.

Steve quickly ran to the front of the train and looked out of the window up in the sky. _Come on, Nat,_ he thought to himself. "Barton do you have eyes on her?" He shouted.

"Negative," Clint replied.

"Barton, where is she?" Steve called, panic filling his voice.

"I've got to get the package to Stark, Cap. You need to stop that train," Clint said, turning the jet.

"No, Barton, find her!" Steve yelled, his hands denting the metal on the dashboard of the train where he was holding on.

"Cap, focus. We will, but we've got to do this first. You know her, she'll be okay." Steve slammed his fists down on the control panel.

"Go," he said coldly, "get it to Stark."

"On it," Clint replied taking off in the jet towards the Avengers tower.

Steve took a deep breath before turning around to face the twins. "We've got civilians in our path." The boy took off running, clearing all of the civilians out of the way as the train continued to careen out of control. "Can you stop this thing?" he asked the girl. She looked terrified but closed her eyes and her hands started glowing. Steve felt the train jolt slightly as it began to stop, but they were still moving towards a large building. He quickly stepped to the front of the train, putting his shield up to help brace the impact of the building. As it hit, the force knocked him backwards, sending him flying further into the train. Seconds later it came to a complete halt. Civilians began flooding out of the train, all of them shaken up, and some with minor injuries, but none seriously hurt. The girl had run over to her brother and was looking over him.

"I'm fine," he breathed, "I just need to take a minute."

"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve said, latching his shield on his back and looking over the two.

"Did you get the Cradle?" The girl asked, pleading with him for information.

He looked at her for a moment, "Stark will take care of it."

"No, he won't," she replied, her eyes widening.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy." Steve felt his body begin to twitch, he needed to get out of there. He had to find Natasha, but he also knew that running in somewhere blind wasn't going to be good for either of them.

"He will do anything to make things right." She stared Steve down, doing her best to remain sensitive as she could feel him on edge about the missing woman, but she also needed him to understand.

Steve reached up to his ear piece, putting a finger on it gently, "Stark, come in." He waited for a moment, but there was no response. "Stark," he called again, but with no answer. "Anyone on comms?" When no one replied to his final call, Steve drew in a breath, sighing before looking at the twins again.

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?" The girl asked.

Steve put his hands on his hips and looked at the two kids before nodding, "we need to go." Steve took off running, with the twins following closely behind. His heart pulled and felt like it was being ripped out of his chest, but they were right. Tony was the one who created Ultron in the first place. Who's to say he won't try it again. They had to stop him, but that also meant that finding Natasha would have to wait. _I'm coming for you Nat, please hang on. I promise I'll find you._

* * *

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback on the last chapter! I'm really glad you guys ended up liking it! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well, I will admit that this scene was really difficult to write because of how much is going on, so I hope that it still makes sense.

Please review, follow, and favorite :)


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters!

* * *

Steve sat in the pilot's seat of the plane, flying them from Cho's lab in Korea back to the Avenger's Tower. He'd spent the entire flight thinking about Natasha and wondering if she was okay. He was able to get in contact with Clint and asked him to look into ways that Natasha might communicate outside of the internet. Steve knew that she was smart, he knew that she would find a way to let him know where she was, but he was still worried.

"Barton, have you found anything on Nat yet?" He asked, pulling up the secure video line.

"No," Clint replied. "But don't worry Cap, she's alive otherwise Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in it." Steve sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'll keep looking. We'll find her."

"Thank you, Clint," Steve replied.

"You're welcome." Steve began to reach forward to close the line when Clint spoke again, "hey Steve?"

Steve stopped reaching forward and raised his eyebrows and looked at Clint, "yeah?"

"You told her you love her yet?" Clint replied, grinning back into the camera.

Steve rolled his eyes, "goodbye Barton, let me know if you find anything."

Clint laughed, "will do."

The feed disconnected seconds later, leaving Steve alone to think about things. The girl, who introduced herself as Wanda, came up to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. Steve looked over at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You love her," she said, her voice low. It wasn't a question, it was like she already knew the answer.

Steve stared at her for a moment, before laughing a little bit, "am I that obvious?"

Wanda looked over at him and smiled, "no, not really. I can just read your emotions."

"Don't lie to him Wanda," Pietro called from nearby, "I don't need your powers to see he's in love with her." Wanda whipped around in her seat and used her powers to grab a small object off of one of the shelves, throwing it quickly at Pietro's head. He caught it as it got there, looking at her and raising his eyebrows.

"Don't mind him," she said, turning back to face Steve, "he's just being obnoxious."

Steve chuckled, "well not everyone knows yet, so you're going to have to keep it a secret. Obvious or not."

"You have our word, Captain," Pietro said, appearing behind Steve's seat.

"Also, we're sorry," Wanda whispered. "We thought that Ultron really was there to help, but we were wrong." She took in Steve's features for a moment before adding, "and I'm sorry about the salvage yard."

Steve nodded, resisting the urge to wince at the thought of his vision, "you were doing what you thought was right. You continued to do so until you realized you were wrong and now you're going to make amends. That's all you can do." He looked at Wanda and then over his shoulder at Pietro, "you're both young and you made mistakes." He drew in a breath before continuing, "I just hope you guys are ready for one hell of a fight."

"With Ultron?" Pietro asked.

"Him too," Steve replied.

"Stark." Wanda looked at Pietro before turning her gaze back to Steve.

"You two need to stay back when we get there. Try to stay out of the way. They aren't going to trust you-" Steve noticed Wanda look down at her hands, shifting uncomfortably, "-but in time they will," he added reassuringly. Wanda nodded, and Pietro moved closer to her, taking her hand in his. "For now though, you two need to stay behind me and follow my lead. Okay?" He turned to look at the two of them who were both nodding in agreeance. Steve nodded once, almost to himself, before he continued the plane's descent down to the landing pad of the Avengers Tower. Steve locked everything in place before getting up from the pilot's seat. "Follow me," Steve commanded, pushing past the twins and walking off the Quinjet.

* * *

"The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes," Bruce said, turning around to face Tony who was standing over the Cradle.

"I'm gonna say this once," Steve said, bursting in the door with the twins following close behind him. "Shut it down."

Tony shook his head, staring back at Steve, "nope. Not gonna happen."

Steve raised an eyebrow at Tony, "you don't know what you're doing."

"And you do?" Bruce replied, raising his voice slightly. "She's not in your head?"

"I know you're angry," Wanda said, stepping out from behind Steve.

"Oh, we're way past that," Bruce growled. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Pietro grabbed onto Wanda's arm gently pulling her back as Steve stepped protectively in front of her. "Bruce, Natasha's missing, and you saw what happened last time Stark tried something like this."

"That's nothing compared to what's coming," Tony shouted.

"Stark, this isn't a game," Steve squared his shoulders to face Tony, staring the inventor down. Tony began to move to click a button on the Cradle when Pietro sped throughout the room, pulling wires and plugs, destroying the lab equipment.

"Go on," Pietro said, standing on the other side of the lab, "you were saying?" Just then the glass from underneath Pietro's feet was shot out by Clint.

"What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint was only half teasing, still pretty mad over the fact that Pietro nearly got him killed.

Wanda ran over to Pietro but was stopped by Bruce who had stepped in her way, "go ahead," he said low, the Hulk side of him beginning to show, "piss me off." Steve was about to step to Wanda's defense when Thor came hurling into the room, pounding the cradle with his hammer, sending a bolt of lightning through the body, bringing it to life.

* * *

Vision was standing in front of them, explaining to them who he was and what his purpose was. Everyone in the room was dumbfounded, completely taken aback by what had just happened within the lab.

"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all," Vision said, looking out the window.

"What's he waiting for?" Tony challenged.

"You," Vision replied, turning around to face Tony and the others.

"Where?" Steve asked, stepping forward.

"Sokovia. He's got Tasha there too," Clint answered.

Steve turned around to face Clint, "Nat's there?" Clint nodded, and Steve drew in a breath as he looked around at the rest of the team. He quickly snapped back into his Captain voice, giving all of them orders, "three minutes. Get what you need."

"Yeah totally not obvious," Pietro whispered to Wanda.

Wanda gave him a sharp jab in the stomach, "it's a secret Pietro, remember?" She hissed before following the others out of the lab.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm a sucker for protective Steve.

Please review, favorite, and follow!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

Natasha sat back against the concrete wall in the cell she'd been locked in. She'd gotten in contact with Clint, and he'd said that they were coming for her, but she wasn't sure how long that would be. Her mind drifted to Steve as she sat there. She was sure that he was worried and stressed out, but she was thankful that Clint was keeping Steve focused on finding Ultron, rather than on her. After all, he was Captain America, the leader of the Avengers. Saving the world should be his primary focus, not her.

It had been quite a while since she'd heard anything from Ultron, and she was hoping that he'd left. She crawled forward and found a small nail file sitting on the ground. Natasha peeked through the bars to see if she could see Ultron anywhere, and when she didn't, she began working the file over the lock that was holding the door together.

"Nat!" Steve yelled.

"Steve? I'm in here!" She shouted back.

Steve came running up to the cell door, his eyes scanning over her for any visible wounds. Natasha couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over her as he stood in front of her. "Back up from the door," he said.

Natasha could tell that he was trying to keep his emotions under control by the way he clenched and unclenched his jaw as he looked over her. She moved to the back of the cell and watched as he pulled his shield off of his back, jabbing it quickly against the lock and breaking it. He hooked his shield back onto his back before ripping the broken lock off the door and swinging it open to her. She had just barely cleared the cell when he pulled her into his arms. He searched over her face for a moment before crashing his lips down on hers in desperation, almost as if he didn't believe that she was really there. Natasha hummed and tangled her arms together around his neck.

"Maybe I should get kidnapped by a homicidal robot more often," she quipped when he finally pulled away for air.

Steve huffed out a laugh, brushing a piece of hair out of her face, and checking over her once more. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Other than a few small scratches, I'm fine Steve." She reached up to his face and rubbed her thumb over the creases in his forehead, smoothing them out. A smile crept onto her face as she looked at him. "I love you Steve Rogers," she whispered as she leaned in to kiss him again.

Steve hummed, welcoming her lips to his, "I love you too Natasha Romanoff." They continued to kiss for a minute, the kisses becoming more heated and passionate, as time went on. Steve was the one to finally pull away, leaning his forehead against hers, "as much as I would love to show you how glad I am that you're okay right here and now, we'd better get going."

Natasha smirked at him, "I think I'm corrupting you, Captain."

Steve rolled his eyes at her as grabbed onto her hand, "come on. The team is already in the city. It's about to light up."

"Right behind you, Cap," she replied. He stopped for a moment, turning back to give her a small kiss before leading them out of the building and to the Quinjet.

* * *

Steve bent over trying to catch his breath as he looked out around the city. "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?" He asked, as he brushed himself off. He met Natasha's eyes as she strode towards him after helping some civilians.

"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear," Tony called back.

Steve looked at Natasha, "I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second, we're going to have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock-" Natasha started.

"Not until everyone's safe," Steve replied, looking over at the buildings where scared civilians were huddled together. He turned back to face her, his expression pained, "I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."

Natasha stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder, sliding it down his arm until she had his hand in hers, "I didn't say we should leave." Steve smiled back at her, his eyes still showing his wariness about the situation. Natasha knew exactly what he was thinking, giving him a small shrug, "there's worse ways to go." She wrapped his arm around her and looked out of the horizon as the rock continued to climb higher in altitude, "where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

Steve held her in his arms, leaning down to kiss the top of her head and watch the horizon with her. The thought of not getting to live a life with her after all the waiting that they'd done, killed him. All he wanted was to have her in his arms for the rest of forever. "Marry me," he whispered by her ear.

Natasha whirled around to face him, "what?"

"If we make it off of this rock, marry me," he repeated, the confidence returning back to his voice.

"You're just saying that because you're afraid we're going to die," she said as she reached up to touch his face. He could see tears beginning to form in her eyes as she stared up at him.

"That's part of it, but I also know that this is what I want. Marry me, Nat," he replied softly, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

Natasha pushed herself up on her toes to lace their lips together, kissing him fervently, and he responded just as eagerly. "Yes," she breathed against his lips.

"Yes?" Steve was slightly shocked but couldn't contain his excitement.

"Yes. On one condition," she added, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Anything," he replied, a huge grin across his face.

"We have to get married somewhere with a gorgeous view like this one." Natasha looked out over the horizon again before turning back to him and adding, "but minus the homicidal robot army."

"Deal," Steve laughed, bringing his lips down on hers again.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better," Fury's voice rang through their comms. A Helicarrier rose from below the rock, Fury and Hill sitting inside.

"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve said incredulously.

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury quipped. Steve rolled his eyes and leaned down to kiss Natasha's forehead once more before releasing her from his arms. "Oh, and congratulations on the engagement," Fury added.

Steve winced slightly, he'd completely forgotten everyone could probably hear them. "You guys heard all that?" He asked hesitantly. Everyone began talking at once, giving congratulations, as well as teasing them. Natasha threw back her head and laugh as she reached up to ruffle Steve's hair. "Surprise?" He said sheepishly.

"What do you mean 'surprise?' We've all known you two were together for a while now," Tony chimed.

"The only surprise was that it took you this long to admit it," Hill added.

"I told you it was obvious," Pietro said.

Steve laughed and ran his hand through his hair. "Alright everyone, that's enough. Let's get ready to kick some robot ass."

* * *

Please favorite, follow, and review!

Also, check out my new story "Show Me a Good Time" :)


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

"So how do we look?" Natasha asked as she strolled over to Steve.

"Well, we're not the '27 Yankees," He replied with a smile.

"Still a little before my time there, Gramps," Natasha teased as they walked to the training room door. "Let's beat 'em into shape," she said, a mischievous look on her face. Steve leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss before pushing open the double doors and walking into the room.

"Alright Avengers!" Steve shouted. Immediately Rhodes flew over in his War Machine suit, Sam swooped in wearing his Falcon suit, Wanda hovered over to them, and Vision floated down. Steve looked around the group, mentally counting them as if he was looking over a group of toddlers. "Pietro?" He called.

Seconds later he appeared with the rest of the group. "Sorry Cap." Wanda shook her head at her twin before turning back to look at the others.

Steve smiled and placed his hands on his hips, "let's get to work."

* * *

Natasha laid back on the bed in the apartment within the Avengers compound her and Steve shared. Her body was sore from training with the new recruits. She had been working with Wanda, but since she didn't have very good control over her powers yet, some of the hits Natasha took had been harder than Wanda intended them to be. Even though they were on the other side of the training room, she could feel Steve's concerned eyes on her as she was sparring with Wanda.

When Steve called for everyone to take a quick break to get something to drink, he suggested to Natasha that they switch. It wasn't that he thought that she couldn't handle it, he just didn't like that she was having to. He'd rather be the one taking a massive pulse of energy to the gut. He'd even offered to let her use his shield for the time being, but she declined, saying that he needed it to work with the guys.

After Steve finally called for everyone to wrap up at the end of the day, he gave Natasha a quick kiss before running off. He didn't tell her where he was going, just that he would be back later. Natasha was curious, but her attention was quickly pulled away from her curiosity when Rhodes asked her a few questions about his fighting technique. By the time that she finally made it back to the room, all she wanted to do was lay down and not do anything.

"Nat?" Steve called as he entered their apartment.

Natasha groaned slightly as she pushed herself up off the bed. She was about to walk into the living room when Steve stepped in front of her and pushed her back into their room. "Steve, what are you-?"

"You can't come out here yet," he said. He brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she stared him down, "why not?"

Steve smiled and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "How about a bath?"

"What are you planning, Rogers?" Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk playing at her lips.

"Bath first, then surprises," he said, turning her around and walking them toward the master bathroom.

He started running the water, dropping in a few drops of lavender essential oils in as the tub filled up. He then turned to Natasha to help her undress, kissing along her body as he pulled the lose tank top off of her, before reaching around to unhook where her sports bra clasped.

Natasha hummed as Steve's lips trailed along her shoulders and neck, "you know what would make this bath even better?"

Steve smiled, knowing exactly what was on her mind, "what's that?" He asked as he reached down to hook his thumbs under the waistband of her yoga pants, gently rubbing his thumbs against her hip bones in the way that drives her crazy, before pulling them down.

"If you joined me," she said, her voice slightly shaky from the way he was winding her up. She stepped out of where her clothes were pooled on the floor and allowed for Steve to lead her over to the tub.

"You know I'd love to dear, but then your surprise wouldn't be ready in time." He kissed the spot where her shoulder meets her neck once more before urging her to step into the bathtub. "I'll be back soon."

"You're the worst," Natasha groaned as she slid down into the warm water.

Steve laughed as he walked out of the bathroom, "I love you too."

* * *

Steve quickly set up several candles throughout their living room, before walking into the kitchen to make dinner for them. When he finished, he went back into the bedroom to find Natasha laying on the bed, the sheets laid suggestively over her. He could tell that she wasn't wearing anything, and the amount of restraint it took him not to tear off his own clothes and climb into bed with her was nearly unbearable.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him from her spot on the bed, "something wrong, Solider?" Her voice was sweet, though the look in her eyes said something completely different.

Steve swallowed hard, "dinner's ready for you," he said, his voice strained. Natasha nodded and threw the blankets off of her, earning a small groan from Steve as his previous suspicions about her not wearing anything were confirmed. She smirked as she walked over to the dresser and grabbed one of his t-shirts. When she pulled it over her body, it went down to the middle of her thighs, and one of the sleeves fell off of her shoulder.

She opened up the drawer that her panties were in and dug in there for a minute before turning back to face Steve. "Do you think I really need these?" she asked, twirling a pair of maroon lace underwear around her finger.

"Yes," Steve squeaked out. She could see him digging his fingernails into the palm of his hand to keep him from losing control. Natasha laughed and stepped into the underwear. "You ready?" he asked, regaining his composure.

"I suppose," she replied, her smirk still placed firmly on her face.

* * *

"Oh my god, I'm so full," Natasha groaned as she leaned back on the couch. Steve laughed as he brought her a glass of wine from the kitchen. She gratefully accepted it, bringing the cup up to her lips. "So, are you going to tell me what all of this is about?" she asked as she looked throughout the room at the various candles that were lit.

"I thought celebrating our engagement was in order," he said with a shrug.

"You're too sweet," she replied, leaning in to give him a kiss.

He smiled as their lips touched one another, "I also thought that I should properly propose to you."

Natasha furrowed her brows her confusion obvious on her face. "What do you mean?"

Steve set his glass of wine down before he pulled out one of the drawers on the coffee table and produced a small box. He flipped the top of box open to show a thin silver band with a small classic cut diamond sitting on top of it. "It was my Ma's, they saved it for me with the rest of my stuff when I went under. At the time, this was all my Pa could afford to give her. I always told myself that when I found the girl I wanted to marry, I would give them this ring." He looked down at it, "I know that it isn't much, but-"

"It's perfect," Natasha whispered.

"You think so?" He asked, looking up to meet her eyes. He could see the emotion swimming in her emerald green eyes, which told him exactly how she felt, especially since he knew she wasn't typically one to openly share how she was feeling.

"I wouldn't want anything else," she said, nodding her head at him. Steve smiled and went to slide off of the couch to properly propose to her when Natasha reached out to stop him. "Don't," she whispered. Steve's eyebrows knitted together as he tried to figure out what she was saying. She reached up and grabbed his face in her hands, "I loved everything about the way you proposed to me before. It's just like us to get engaged in the middle of saving the world. Let's just leave it at that," she laughed lightly at their own ridiculousness before leaning in to give him a kiss.

Steve nodded, and grabbed the ring out of the box. "May I?" A wide smile spread across Natasha's face as she held her left hand to her. Steve delicately placed the ring on her finger, sliding it up until it sat just right.

"It's beautiful," Natasha whispered as she looked down at the small ring on her finger. Surprisingly, she didn't hate that it was sitting there. She never imagined herself to be the marrying type, but then again, she didn't think that she'd ever marry a man like Steve Rogers either. She leaned in to lace their lips together, "I love you, Steve Rogers."

Steve smiled, "I love you too Mrs. Rogers." Natasha's heart skipped a beat as the words left his mouth.

"Actually," she said, pulling back from him, "I was thinking I might keep my maiden name." Steve's expression began to fall before he noticed a smirk forming on her lips.

"You're a little shit sometimes, you know that?" He laughed.

"And yet, you still want to spend the rest of your life with me," she teased back.

Steve hummed and leaned in to kiss her, "yes I do." They continued making out on the couch for a few minutes before Steve scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a giggle.

"I'm about to make love to my future wife," he said low in her ear. Natasha's entire body felt like it was on fire, instantly needing him. "Is that alright… Mrs. Rogers?"

"Not at all," Natasha gasped as he laid her gently on the bed.

"Good," he chuckled as he pulled his t-shirt over his head to reveal his chiseled body. "I was hoping that wouldn't be a problem."

Sorry for the super late update guys, I've been feeling pretty under the weather today, so writing was kind of difficult. I hope you guys like it!

Please review, favorite, and follow!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters!

* * *

"Are we all set?" Natasha whispered into the phone. She glanced over at Steve's sleeping figure and smiled. She watched as his chest rose and fell rhythmically, the cadence only broken up by his occasional soft snores. "Ready for extraction in five," she said quietly as she swung her legs off the bed. She quietly pulled on a pair of jeans and a flowy blouse before sliding her arms into her black leather jacket. Natasha then walked into their bathroom, quickly putting on a few swipes of mascara before brushing her teeth. Quietly, she tiptoed back into the bedroom to slide on a pair of ankle booties. She reached into the spot in their closet that she had hollowed out to grab a couple of her knives, sliding one into the holster she had built into the pair of boots she was wearing, and the other into her jacket. It was a force of habit more than anything else.

She walked out of the closet to see that Steve was still sleeping. She quickly sprayed her perfume and put on deodorant before walking over to him. Natasha kneeled down beside the bed, running her hands through his hair gently until he stirred.

"Hey, I've got some stuff to do today, but I'll be back before dinner." She spoke gently, continuing to brush her hand through his hair.

Steve hummed quietly, still in a slight daze from just waking up. "Okay." He pushed himself upright to look at her, "you look gorgeous," he said, a sleepy smile donning his face. "Be safe, and I love you." He reached out to brush his thumb against her cheekbone before cupping his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her in for a kiss.

Natasha grinned at him, giving him a small kiss on the forehead before telling him she loved him and leaving the room. She moved quietly down the halls of the compound, hoping that since it was still fairly early in the morning, she wouldn't run into anyone along the way. She was almost to the entrance of the hangar when a voice from behind her got her attention.

"Good morning, Natasha!" Wanda called, jogging lightly over to her. "You look nice, where are you going?"

Natasha knew that the girl meant well, but she wasn't exactly in the mood to share the details of what she was going to be doing that day. "I've got things to take care of," she said.

"You're keeping a secret," Wanda replied, a smile spreading its way across her face.

Natasha stopped and held up a finger in warning to her, "don't do that. You don't get to just look in my head whenever you want to know something."

Wanda giggled, "I didn't need to look into your head to know that. In fact, I didn't know, not until you confirmed it at least." Natasha felt her skin prick up slightly. Did she _really_ just let herself get tricked by Wanda? She should've known better, that's a trick she would use. Her annoyance melted a little bit into pride, knowing that she was the one who taught her that. "Don't worry, I won't say anything to Steve. I won't even tell him that I saw you this morning," Wanda added.

Natasha smiled before thanking Wanda briefly before continuing toward the hangar.

"Are we all set?" she called as she walked up the ramp and into the Quinjet.

"Ready to go when you are," Sharon yelled from the pilot's seat.

"Let's go then," Natasha said as she sat down in the co-pilot's chair.

Sharon smiled and started up the jet. The two women rode in silence for around half of the trip when Sharon finally spoke again, "Are you doing okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Natasha continued to stare out the window, watching as the clouds floated past the jet. "Thanks again for doing this."

"No problem," Sharon replied. She flipped a couple of the controls before continuing, "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Natasha turned to face her. The urge to lie was overwhelming, but she knew that anything said to Sharon was said in confidence. After all, Sharon had kept this secret for Natasha since just after the battle with Ultron. "Yeah, a bit."

"Don't stress about it. It'll be just fine," Sharon said reassuringly.

Natasha nodded and leaned her head back against her seat. Her heart raced as the one question that had been running through her head for years burned the back of her throat. "What all does she know?" Natasha croaked out.

"About you?" Sharon asked. "Nearly everything."

Natasha clenched and unclenched her hands as she thought about what Sharon said, about what that meant for her. "But you still think it's going to go fine?"

"I wouldn't have agreed to help you if I didn't think so," Sharon replied, her tone very matter-of-fact. "We'll be landing in five."

* * *

Natasha stood in front of the building, collecting her thoughts. _You can do this, Romanoff,_ she thought to herself as she started up the steps. Once inside the building, she walked up to the front desk, "I'm-"

"Natasha Romanoff," the attendant said with a bright smile, "we were told you'd be stopping by. Let me just check that she's ready for you." The attendant walked around the desk before heading into one of the rooms further down the hall. She was only gone for a few seconds before she peered her head back out the door, gesturing for Natasha to join her.

When Natasha reached the door, she hesitated slightly, seeing the woman sitting in the chair in front of her. She straightened her shoulders up before stepping into the room. "Peggy?" she said gently. Peggy looked up and gave her a warm smile. Natasha returned the gesture, taking the seat across from her. "Do you know who I am?" Natasha asked.

Peggy nodded her head, the smile still firmly planted on her lips, "Natasha, it's so nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too, Peggy," Natasha reached out and gently touched Peggy's hand. "I-well, I have one more question to ask you before we start, if that's okay." Peggy nodded, and Natasha drew in a deep breath, "do you know where Steve is?"

"Well, I'd assume you have a better idea than I do, but I know that he's out of the ice if that's what you're asking," she quipped. Natasha couldn't help the smile that came to her face as she nodded. _She's exactly like Steve said she would be._

"Okay," she said with a laugh. Her smile faltered on her face as she thought about what she was going to say next. She absent-mindedly played with the ring that was on her finger (something that she did a lot these days).

"I see he finally got up the courage to ask you to marry him." Peggy looked down at the ring, a fond smile playing at her features.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot I had it on and I was going to tell you-"

"Natasha, dear. It's okay," she said gently. "I want the both of you to be happy. I lived a full life. I got married to someone I loved very much and had children I love very much. I wouldn't change a thing about that. You don't need to apologize to me for being in love." Peggy reached out and grabbed onto Natasha's hand, "plus, between you and me, I've known this was coming since he first mentioned your name to me."

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, "you did?"

"Darling, you were practically all he could talk about. He was even hesitant in telling me that you two were dating. Always thinking about others, that one," she said with a laugh. She looked over Natasha for a moment before continuing, "why are you here, dear?"

Natasha looked up at the ceiling and let out a breath, "I guess, I just wanted to know that you were okay with this. That you were okay with us getting married," she paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts, "that you think I'm good enough for him."

Peggy leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap, "Natasha, do you remember when you defected to S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Yes," Natasha said softly.

"I read over your file, everything that we had on you, multiple times. I sat and watched on the other side of the glass as they interrogated you for hours on end. You never once cracked, never once yielded in your answers. I even sat in on the meeting that they had to discuss whether or not you should be allowed to join, but never once did I doubt you." The corners of Peggy's mouth upturned slightly as she continued talking, "you remind me a lot of myself, Natasha. You're a survivor, someone who's not afraid to do what they have to do." Natasha sat there, fighting back the urge to cry at Peggy's words. "You are good enough for Steve, and you don't need me to tell you that. He's a good man. He can be a bit blind sometimes, but not when it comes to something like this. If he chose you, it's because he has no doubts that you're perfect for him." She placed a reassuring hand on Natasha's leg, "if I believed for a second that you were the person everyone believed you to be, I would've had you killed where you stood when you stepped into S.H.I.E.L.D. You're not what they made you, Natasha."

Natasha swallowed hard and murmured a low, "thank you."

"You're very welcome, dear, though I haven't said anything but the truth," Peggy paused before breaking out into a wide smile. "If you came here looking for my blessing, you more than have it. I only have one request."

"Anything," Natasha whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

"Just take care of him. Stand by him. He's always so selfless that he puts everyone before himself, just give him a reason to put himself first. He deserves so much happiness. You both do."

"I will Peggy," she reached out and grabbed Peggy's frail hand in both of hers, "I promise."

Peggy's shining eyes turned slightly glassy for a moment before she looked at Natasha confused, "Natasha dear, what are you doing here? Is everything alright at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Natasha felt her heart pull as she watched Peggy lose herself before her own eyes, "everything is fine Director Carter. I just stopped by to say hello, but I've got to get going now." Natasha gave Peggy a small hug, throwing Peggy off-guard. The Natasha Romanoff she knew and remembered would never have instigated something like this, but Peggy didn't fight the hug, just embraced it. "Goodbye, Director."

"Oh Natasha?" She called after her as she was beginning to walk out the door. Natasha turned back to face her.

"Has there been any more news on the search in the Arctic?" _Steve. She means Steve._ Natasha quickly shook her head, deciding to spare her the details. Peggy frowned before continuing, "well, have them keep me in the loop, yes?"

"Of course," Natasha said, giving her a warm smile before walking out of the building.

* * *

When the Quinjet landed back at the compound, a smile crept up on Natasha's face. It was only midday whenever they made it back, so Natasha quickly ran by their apartment, changing into workout gear before heading down to the training room where the new Avengers were working with Steve. She quietly entered the room, noticing Steve standing with his back facing the door. The new Avengers were just about to welcome her when she brought her fingers up to her lips, silencing them. They all turned their attention back on Steve who was talking with them about different fighting techniques. Natasha silently creeped up behind him, getting fairly close before jumping onto his back. Steve reacted quickly, throwing Natasha over his head. She flipped through the air before landing gracefully, looking like a cat getting ready to pounce.

Steve laughed as his eyes met hers, noticing the playful glint dancing behind her composed features. "Everyone take five," he called. The group said hello to Natasha before walking out of the room to get some water.

Natasha sauntered over to Steve, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulling him down for a steamy kiss.

"What was that for?" He gasped against her lips when she finally released him.

"Thank you for seeing the good in me," she whispered as she played with the hair on the back of his neck.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows at her, "of course." He looked her over for a minute, "where did you go today?"

"I'll tell you about it later," she said, a smirk on her face. "For now though," she paused as she pulled away from him, "I want to kick your ass."

A deep chuckled rumbled from the back of Steve's throat before he lifted up his shield, "bring it on, Romanoff."

Natasha lifted an eyebrow, placing her hands firmly on her hips, "that's Mrs. Rogers to you." Her playfulness faded for a moment as she looked back into Steve's eyes that were practically dancing at her words. She gave him a genuine smile, receiving one in return before stepping into her fighting stance and lunging at him.

* * *

So, I've known I wanted to do a chapter like this since I began writing this story. I know that it might seem a little OOC, but I 100% believe that it's something that Natasha would do. She knows how important Peggy is to Steve, so I think that having her approval (especially thinking of herself in the way that she does), would just further solidify that her and Steve are right together.

Also for clarification, Peggy wasn't the director when Natasha was recruited, but she was still involved with Natasha being brought in because of how dangerous it could potentially be.

Please review, favorite, and follow!


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

Natasha stood in front of the mirror studying how the white fabric clung against her body. She slid her hands down her sides, smoothing down the material. She drew in a deep breath as she turned around to face the girls that were all standing thoughtfully behind her. A wide smile spread across Pepper's face as she stepped forward to give Natasha a hug.

"You look amazing," she gushed as she wrapped her arms around her.

"Absolutely stunning," Maria echoed, stepping forward to take Pepper's place.

"Steve's going to love it," Wanda chimed. She was the last one to hug Natasha, the intricate lace veil draped carefully over her arm. When she pulled back, she gestured for Natasha to turn around to face the mirror once more. Wanda gently took the comb at the end of the veil and placed it in Natasha's hair. She fixed the two loose pieces of hair on either side of her face before stepping back so Pepper and Maria could fluff the veil, pulling it out behind her to reach its full cathedral length. Natasha placed her hand delicately over her stomach, feeling it jump with all of the nerves that she was feeling.

Maria stepped forward and put and hand on Natasha's shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?" She asked, a concerned look on her face.

A smile finally spread across her face as she threw her head back to laugh, "not at all. I just never thought that I'd be here right now."

"I don't know two people who deserve it more," Pepper said gently.

Natasha was hardly one for sentiment or one to show emotion to anyone aside from Steve and Clint, but something about the day was making her emotional than usual. Wanda grabbed a tablet off of the table and frowned at it. Natasha saw her reflection in the mirror and turned to look at her.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Are you sure you want us to keep tracking Rumlow even during your wedding?" Wanda looked at the tablet once more before looking back to Natasha.

"We're talking about Rumlow and Hydra, Wanda. Yes, keep running it," Natasha looked at Pepper and Maria who were clearly wary about the situation. "And we need to know immediately if something comes up." She turned her gaze back to Wanda, her look leaving no room for argument, "and I do mean immediately."

* * *

Steve bounced his leg as he sat back on the couch waiting for them to be called down for the beginning of the ceremony. He'd been a nervous wreck since they woke up that morning to start getting ready, though Steve hadn't really done much sleeping to begin with since Natasha wasn't there. It had been his idea, he insisted that they follow the tradition of him not seeing her until she was walking down the aisle towards him, and though Natasha didn't believe in the tradition, she didn't put up _much_ of a fight about it. The combination of Natasha not being there and his nerves about the wedding made it nearly impossible for him to get any sleep. Sam and Clint had to drag Steve out of the gym around 2 in an attempt to get him sleep even a little bit.

"If you bounce your leg any faster, we'll have to start calling you Quicksilver," Sam joked as he walked over to sit next to him on the couch. Steve cracked a smile and stopped bouncing his leg. "I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous before," he laughed. "Jumping out of a plane without a parachute? Fighting homicidal robots? Getting buildings nearly dropped on you? Nothing. But marrying Natasha? You're an absolute wreck."

Steve laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I know. I know. I just want all of this to go perfectly."

"Dude, when you see her, you won't care if anything else goes perfectly," Sam replied. The two of them sat in silence watching the chaos around them before Sam spoke again, "I know you always pictured Bucky standing beside you as your best man on your wedding day, but I am honored that you trust me to fill in for him."

Steve didn't say anything, he just smiled and reached out to put his hand on Sam's shoulder squeezing it tightly. Sam patted Steve's knee once before getting up to go help with the finishing touches. Steve leaned his head back on the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He did wish that Bucky was going to be there, but they still hadn't found any leads on him. He was deep in thought when the couch dipped beside him and a small body climbed up on top of him. Steve let out an _umpf_ with the unexpected weight, quickly bringing his head up to look at the small human.

Lila's bright eyes shone back at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Steve chuckled and hugged her back.

"Hi Uncle Steve!" She giggled, "you look very handsome." Lila played with his tie, flipping it back and forth as she talked to him.

Steve smiled at her and readjusted so she was sitting more comfortably on his lap. "Thank you very much Lila. You look very pretty in your flower girl dress. Are you excited?"

Lila nodded her head vigorously, "are you excited to marry my Auntie Nat?"

Steve looked at her and crooked his finger, "can I tell you a secret?" He whispered. Lila squealed in excitement and moved her head closer so she could hear him, "I'm very excited." Lila giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. Steve grinned as he watched her excitement. "Have you seen her yet?" Steve felt a little guilty trying to coax information out of a little girl, but he just wanted to know what his bride looked like.

Lila shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, "nope, and Daddy told me I'm not supposed to say anything about Auntie Nat before you marry her." She brought her hand up to her mouth and pretended like she was locking a lock before throwing away the key.

Steve threw his head back and laughed. He held his hands up, dancing his fingers towards her, "not even if I tickle it out of you?" Lila squealed as Steve tickled at her sides. He stopped shortly after to allow her to catch her breath, but when he asked her again if she'd see Natasha yet, Lila wouldn't budge. "She's taught you well, kiddo," he chuckled.

"Lila?" Laura called, searching through the room.

"Oh! I gotta go Uncle Steve, I'll see you in a little while!" Lila quickly threw her arms around Steve in a hug before sliding off of his lap and running towards her mom.

Steve was about to give up on trying to get a sneak peek of Natasha when he saw Cooper walking around.

"Coop, come here a second," he waved Cooper over to him. Cooper quickly rushed over to Steve who grabbed a small device, holding it out to him, "I've got a job for you."

* * *

Everyone in Natasha's room turned around when there was a knock on the door. Pepper, keeping up with her Maid of Honor duties, hurriedly ran over to the door and pulled it open a bit to see who it was before letting them in. Lila and Cooper came rushing through the door with Clint close behind.

"Slow down," Clint called after them. Natasha smiled brightly at the pair, leaning down to scoop them both into a hug.

"Hey kiddos," she said, squeezing them tightly.

Lila pulled back and bounced up and down as she looked at Natasha, "Auntie Nat, you look beeeaaauuttiful!"

"Thank you beauty, you look very pretty yourself," she replied with a warm smile.

"You look great, Nat," Clint said, stepping forward to give her a hug. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought that he had tears in his eyes.

"Don't go soft on me Barton," she playfully warned.

As Natasha hugged Clint, she looked down at Cooper who was holding a small device in his hand, trying to be discreet about it. "Watcha got there Coop?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow at him as Clint released her.

"Um, nothing!" He quickly threw his hands behind his back. Lila snuck up behind him and ripped the device out of his hand, skipping over to Natasha and placing it in the palm of hers. When Natasha saw what it was, she laughed. Clint was about to scold him when Natasha placed her hand on his shoulder.

She bent down to Cooper's level and looked him in the eye, holding the object out. "Who gave you this Coop?" She asked, a small smile playing at her lips.

"No one," he said, looking down at the floor.

"Mhm, no one. Well then can you tell me what you think it does?" She raised both of her eyebrows expectantly.

"Um, I think it takes pictures," Cooper replied, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

"Well it doesn't really look like a camera, does it?" Natasha probed.

"Well, no but-"

"So why would you think that it takes pictures?"

"Um, well…." Cooper looked around the room at everyone staring at him before looking back at Natasha. He sighed and dropped his hands to his side, "okay, fine. Uncle Steve gave it to me and asked me to take a picture of you for him."

"Cooper!" Clint scolded, "I told you if he asked you to tell him anything about what your Aunt looked like, you told him you didn't know."

"Well, technically he didn't ask what she looked like. He just wanted a picture." Natasha resisted the urge to laugh, he was definitely her nephew. "Plus, he's _Captain America,"_ Cooper added, his voice emphasizing 'Captain America'. "If he asks you to do something, you do it."

This time Natasha did laugh. That wasn't what it always meant, at least for her. "It's alright Coop, no harm done." She played with the device in her hand for a moment before continuing, "but I am going to need you and Lila to close your eyes for a moment so I can take a picture to send to your Uncle Steve." Cooper quickly pulled his hands over his eyes and Lila followed suit. Natasha held the device back with one hand, lifting the other up and sticking out her perfectly manicured middle finger, effectively flipping off the camera. She snapped the picture before telling the kids they could uncover their eyes. "Can you take this directly back to your Uncle Steve?" Cooper nodded his head and Natasha placed the device in his hands before he ran off.

"Alright everyone!" Pepper squealed, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention, "it's time!" Natasha drew in a deep breath, her butterflies from earlier instantly finding their way back into her stomach.

"You ready, kid?" Clint asked, as he stuck his elbow out for her to wrap her arm around.

Natasha nodded, gladly taking his arm, "1000%."

* * *

Steve shifted uncomfortably, as he stood up at the altar waiting for the ceremony to start. There were more people there than he would've liked if he had a say over it, but Tony insisted that he and Pepper would take care of pretty much everything. Though he had to admit, Pepper did do a good job putting everything together and keeping Tony under control. She had also really listened to what Steve and Natasha said they wanted. The ceremony space was romantic and intimate despite the size of the crowd in attendance. It was decorated with flowers, lace, and candles. Everything matched in the colors that they had picked out as well. The bridesmaid's dresses were burgundy, and their bouquets matched the color of their dresses with small bits of white and gold. Steve and the groomsmen were all wearing Navy tuxes and had white boutonnieres.

"Uncle Steve!" Cooper yelled, running up behind where Steve was standing. Steve whipped around to look at Cooper. Sam was following close behind about to take him to the back of the room where the wedding party was gathering, but Steve stopped him. "I got it," Cooper huffed, out of breath from running there.

"Nice job Coop," Steve replied with a smile, extending his hand for a hi-five. Cooper smacked his hand, a big smile on his face as he handed over the device.

"But Uncle Steve wait-" Steve quickly clicked a button on the device to pull up the picture, and Cooper pulled his hands up to cover his eyes. Steve laughed at the picture and clicked the button again, causing it to disappear. "Sorry Uncle Steve, Auntie Nat caught me," Cooper looked down at his feet and Steve pulled him in for a hug.

"It's alright Coop. This was exactly what I needed," he replied. The smile returned to Cooper's face as he hugged Steve back. "Now hurry back to your Dad, we're going to need those rings down here."

"On it!" He yelled, running towards the back of the room.

Steve began to fidget once again, but a minute later, the music for the beginning of the ceremony began. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at Bruce who was giving him a reassuring smile. Steve turned back to watch them proceeding from the back of the church. Pietro and Wanda were the first two down the aisle, followed by Tony and Maria, with Sam and Pepper bringing up the end of the processional. The music changed slightly as Lila and Cooper came down the aisle. Bruce gestured for everyone to stand as the Wedding March began.

Steve felt his heart begin to race as he waited for the double doors at the end of the aisle to open. It was seconds later that they opened wide revealing Clint and Natasha. The minute his eyes met Natasha's, all of the nerves in Steve's body melted away. He released the breath that he didn't know he'd been holding, a massive smile spreading across his face. She looked breathtaking. Her red hair was pulled into a low updo, two tendrils of hair flowing down on each side of her face. Her dress had a straight neck with short sleeves on either side, but the back was open to just above her butt. It fit her like a glove. Steve was sure that the world had stopped spinning as he watched her walk towards him. His eyes brimmed with tears as she stood in front of him, Bruce's words to Clint about giving Natasha away completely lost on him as he stared into her emerald eyes.

His own love and adoration was mirrored back at him, evident on her face. "Hey soldier," she whispered as she took his hand, squeezing it gently.

"You look stunning," he whispered back, the urge to pull her in for a kiss right then overwhelming him.

"So worth the wait?" she teased.

"Absolutely," he replied.

The ceremony ran by quickly and before they knew it, it was time for their vows. Bruce gestured for Steve to begin. He drew in a deep breath, turning to fully look at her, the tears from earlier returning to his eyes. "Nat, there are so many things that I could say right now. I could go on for the rest of my life listing things that I love about you. You've been there with me through everything. Through some of the toughest times of my life and I promise to be there with you through yours. I promise to spend every night I can with you in my arms, to always do my best to come home to you at the end of the day, and to always love you with my whole heart."

Natasha laughed quietly, clearing her throat before she began, "um, I'm not really one for expressing how I feel, but I've never had a problem doing that with you. Steve, I love you so much. I promise to be by your side through the ups and downs. To always have your back. To always be your partner."

Her vows weren't as long as his, but Steve knew how she felt, and he knew she wouldn't want to express all of that in front of everyone. He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand, giving it a small squeeze as he noticed the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes.

"Steven Grant Rogers, do you take Natasha Alianovna Romanoff to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Bruce said gently.

"I do." Steve reached down to grab the rings from Cooper, giving him a bright smile as he did so. He took Natasha's ring and delicately slid it onto her hand.

"And do you Natasha Alianovna Romanoff take Steven Grant Rogers to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Natasha gave him a bright smile as she slid his ring onto his finger.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Steve leaned in and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his body. Natasha eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck, lacing her lips with his for a small, but passionate kiss.

"I love you Mr. Rogers," Natasha breathed against his face.

"I love you too, Mrs. Rogers," he replied, leaning down to kiss her forehead once more before they turned to exit the ceremony space.

* * *

The wedding party had just gotten outside of the ceremony space when the tracker that Wanda had been watching began beeping furiously.

"Uhh Nat," she called, pulling Natasha and Steve out of their conversation. "They're on the move."

Both her and Steve immediately snapped into Avengers mode looking over the information on the screen.

"What do they want in Lagos, Nigeria?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but something tells me we need to be there to find out," Steve replied. He looked over to Natasha who nodded. "Alright everyone, suit up."

"Woah, woah, woah, what do you mean suit up?" Tony yelled, walking over to the group. "You guys just got married! You should be celebrating."

"What better way to celebrate than kicking some ass?" Natasha responded, a smirk on her face.

"You two are the bride and groom, you can't leave!"

"You and Pepper can handle it, but duty calls." Steve gestured to the new Avengers and everyone began moving toward the exit to get on the Quinjet that was stealthed just outside of the wedding site. "Oh, and thank you guys again, it really was perfect," Steve turned around and faced them, giving Tony a small salute before disappearing with the others.

* * *

Please review, favorite, and follow!


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters!

* * *

Steve sat at his desk in the Avengers compound, his head buried in his hands as he thought over everything. He couldn't help but feel responsible for the Accords. To feel responsible for everyone having to make a choice about it in the first place, but no matter how many times he tried to talk himself into just going ahead and signing the document, avoiding the fight, he couldn't. He lifted his head out of his hands, turning to see Natasha watching him. He offered her a small smile before dropping his gaze down to his desk once more.

"What's going through your mind, solider?" Natasha asked, moving from where she had been standing against the doorframe and over to his desk.

"I want to just agree. I want to believe that it's a good idea, that we should all just go through with it and sign the Accords, but I just can't, Nat. I know that innocent people have died. I know that we are responsible for that, but if we just sit back and do nothing, how many more innocent people are going to die while we're waiting for permission to save lives?" Steve leaned back ran his hands through his hair, "like I said earlier, I still believe that the safest hands are our own."

Natasha stepped in front of him, drawing his eyes up to her. Silently, she pushed his chair back from his desk, making sure there was enough room before sitting down on his lap and draping one of her arms across his shoulder. Steve exhaled sharply as he leaned into her touch, resting his head against her cheek.

"Believe me, I wish I could still be the perfect soldier. The one that follows orders without question, but I just can't anymore."

Natasha snapped her head up, and pulled away, gripping his chin in her hand, "Steven Grant Rogers, look at me." His eyes drifted up to hers, and her hard expression softened slightly. "What is it that you told me Dr. Erskine made you promise him, the night before he gave you the serum?"

The corners of his lips turned up at the memory, "he made me promise him that I would stay who I am. That I wouldn't be the perfect soldier, but a good man."

"And you are, Steve. You're a good man. Everyone knows that," she brought her hand up from his chin and ran it along the side of his face before letting it fall on his chest. "You want to do what you think is right, not just for you or for us, but for the world. And you're right, people have agendas and those agendas can change, I've seen it first-hand." She smiled ruefully at the thought of S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything she's been through. She let out a breath before looking down at the ring on her finger her mind settled on what she wanted to do. "If you think we should fight this, then we'll fight this. Together."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows at her, "I thought you wanted to sign?"

Natasha shook her head lightly, "I think there are positives to the Accords, but I also think there are far more negatives. Not to mention the fact that I know you, and I trust you, and if you say something's off with this, then you're probably right." Steve nodded, though Natasha could see the hesitance in his eyes, "what's wrong?"

"If I'm wrong, you'll have given up everything because you put your faith in me," Steve whispered.

"I know it's been a crazy 24 hours, Rogers, but this is literally what I vowed to do. To be with you through the ups and downs. To always have your back. To always be your partner. And I'm choosing to honor that, not just as your _wife_ , but as your teammate and friend _."_ Steve brought his hands up to her face, brushing his thumb over her cheek before tangling his hand in her hair, and crashing his lips onto hers. Natasha was surprised, but quickly reciprocated his enthusiasm, giving back as much as she was getting.

When he finally pulled away, he dropped his forehead against hers. "I love you, Natasha," he whispered, his voice low and gravely.

"I love you too, Steve," she replied as she played with the hair on the back of his neck. "We're in this together."

Steve nodded gently against her forehead, "together."

* * *

Natasha stood looking out of the glass of the office they were sitting in at the monitors surrounding them. She glanced back at Steve who was sitting at the table in the center of the room, he'd been fairly quiet since they got there, only really asking questions about what Ross was going to do with Bucky. She walked away from the glass and over to sit beside him, intertwining their hands and running her finger over where his wedding band was sat.

"We've got to do something," he said after some time.

"I know, and we will, but for now we need to hang tight," she replied. She was about to continue speaking when the door to the office opened and Tony walked in.

"Hey, you wanna see something cool? I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely," he pulled out a velvet box, opening it to reveal to pens sitting inside. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."

Steve huffed out a laugh, looking up to meet Tony's eyes, "some would say it brought our country closer to war."

"If not for these, you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to-uh, extend an olive branch. Is that was it's called?" Tony raised his eyebrows at Steve, holding the box out for him to take a pen from it.

"I didn't realize we were fighting," Natasha chimed, her eyebrow curling up in mock innocence. Tony shifted his gaze to her, sighing as he set the box down.

"I can't keep these guys at bay for forever. Secretary Ross is breathing down my neck to have you guys punished. He wants you throw in the Raft until you decide to get your shit together and sign the damn Accords." Tony sat down on the edge of the table, is eyes pleading with them to agree.

Steve thought about if for a moment before he shook his head, "I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards."

Tony hopped up from the table, quickly pushing the pen set toward Steve once more, "sure! After all of this blows over, we can amend the documents. I can file a motion to have Wanda reinstated-"

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "Wanda? What about Wanda?"

Tony shook his head dismissively, "she's fine. She's just confined to the compound, currently. Pietro's keeping her company."

Steve ran his hands through his hair, "God, Tony! Every time. Every time that I think we're on the same page, that you're seeing things the right way-"

"What? It's 100 acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There are worse ways to protect people," Tony replied, his voice raising slightly.

Steve slammed his hands on the table, pushing himself up to be eye level with Tony, "Protection? Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony. Not _protection."_

Tony placed his hands firmly on the table and leaned forward, "she's not a U.S. citizen."

Steve huffed out a laugh and turned his back on the table where Tony was standing. Natasha scoffed, folding her arms, "Oh, come on, Tony."

"So, this goes for Pietro then as well?" Steve asked.

"No Pietro's still instated," Tony replied, running his hands over his face.

"If her not being a citizen is the problem, why isn't Pietro also under your 'protection,'" Natasha hissed.

"They don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction. They don't think that Pietro is a big threat, and he did sign the Accords."

Steve whirled around, throwing his hands up in disbelief. "She's a kid!" Natasha pushed herself up from where she was sitting, as well. Her arms clenched tightly at her sides.

"Give me a break!" Tony yelled back. He dropped his head, his hands still planted on the table. "I'm doing what has to be done…to stave off something worse."

"You keep telling yourself that," Steve growled. He turned to look at Natasha who was still standing rigid, her face seemingly indifferent, though he could see the anger swirling just beneath the surface. He wrapped his arm around her, placing it on the small of her back and gently ushering her towards the door. He stopped at the edge of the table where the pens were setting, closing the lid and sliding it back over to Tony. "Wouldn't want to break up the set," he murmured before following Natasha out of the door.

* * *

"We need to put together a team." Natasha stood with Steve and Sam in an abandoned warehouse, peeking out through the cracks to see the helicopter flying above.

"We don't know who's on our side and who isn't," Steve replied, his gaze fixed on where Bucky was sitting in the other room. His mind racing with the stuff that Bucky told them about the other soldiers. "We're on our own."

"Maybe not," Sam chimed. "I know a guy. I'll make some calls." He stepped away from the other two, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Barton'll help," Natasha said.

"I thought he said he was retired." Steve turned to face her, his forehead creased from thought.

"Not for me he's not," Natasha replied with a smirk. "And he can get Wanda."

"You think Pietro's going to let her go?"

"I think there's only one way to find out." Natasha looked at him for a moment before stepping closer and wrapping her arms around him. "We're in for a hell of a fight, you know that?" Steve nodded against her head, kissing the top of it. She stepped back and looked up at him, gently cupping his cheek in her hand. "No matter what happens, you and Bucky have to get out of there and get to Siberia. Two super soldiers are plenty," the corners of her lips turned up slightly. She saw him start to protest and placed a slender finger over his mouth, "If it comes down to it, don't worry about us. Don't worry about _me._ We'll be okay."

"Let's hope it doesn't come down to that," he replied, holding her tighter against his chest. He let out a sigh, brushing his fingers through her hair, "but if it does, I'll find you. I promise."

Natasha smiled against his chest, "I know you will."

* * *

Hi guys! I just wanted to say thank you for being so patient with me. I'm still dealing with family stuff, but I'm hoping that I will be able to start posting regularly again soon. As always, please review, favorite, and follow! :) Thank you so much for your continued support!


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters!

* * *

Steve looked around at his friends fighting one another, his heart sinking as he looked at the destruction they had caused at the airport. "We need a distraction," he yelled. Wanda was currently doing her best to contain Pietro and keep him away from Steve and Bucky. Clint was working on keeping Black Panther at bay. Natasha had been focused on Spiderman, while Sam and Scott worked to ground Tony, Rhodes, and Vision.

"I know something that might work," Scott called through the comms. "I can't hold it for very long though. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half….don't come back for me."

Bucky looked over at Steve, his eyebrows furrowed together, "he's gonna tear himself in half?"

Steve looked back to where Scott was running across the hangar, "You're sure about this, Scott?"

"Absolutely," he called back. "It'll be fun." Steve turned to block a shot from Vision, hearing Scott mumbling something as he continued running. He turned back just in time to see Scott go from normal size to a towering figure, snagging Rhodes out of the air as he did.

"I guess that's the signal," Steve shouted, turning with Bucky to run toward the Quinjet in the hangar nearby. Steve looked over his shoulder to see Natasha running with them as well, everyone's attention turned toward where Scott was causing chaos.

They'd just reached the hangar when Natasha stopped. She turned to see T'Challa standing there, his gaze locked on Bucky. "Go," she shouted, "get on the jet. You've got to get to Siberia." She lifted her arm and shot one of her Widow's bites at T'Challa, stunning him momentarily.

"Nat-" Steve started, turning back towards her.

"Go," she yelled again. "I'll be fine. You'll find me, remember?" She glanced over her shoulder, giving him a small smile. She shot another widow's bite, stunning T'Challa again, keeping him from advancing. "You'll find all of us, Steve. But right now, you've got to go."

Steve paused where he stood, his hesitation pulling on him. He ran towards Natasha, capturing her lips in his briefly. "I'll find you," he whispered low, running a thumb over the apple of her cheek.

"I know," she replied, a smile stretching across her face. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, kissing her once again before turning and running with Bucky toward the jet.

"Barnes," Natasha shouted, causing him to turn around to look at her. "Look after him." She turned around and offered him a gentle smile before turning back to send another charge into T'Challa.

"Yes ma'am," Bucky replied, giving her a two-finger salute before climbing into the jet behind Steve. He looked down as the jet took off at where Natasha was still holding T'Challa where he stood, keeping him from following.

"You picked a good one punk," Bucky said as they flew along in the Quinjet.

Steve smiled, "yeah, I did."

The two of them were quiet for a few moments before Bucky spoke again. "What's going to happen to your friends?" He paused for a moment before adding, "to your wife?"

Steve furrowed his eyebrows before sighing and shaking his head, "I don't know, but whatever it is, I'll deal with it. I'll get them out of there."

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve."

Steve turned to face him, "What you did all those years…it wasn't you. You didn't have a choice." He looked forward again making sure they were still on the right course before looking back. "We've all done things we weren't proud of, most of this team can relate to how your feeling. Half of us have had our brains messed with. It wasn't you Buck."

"Yeah," he replied softly, "but I did it."

* * *

"Did you know?" Tony asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"I didn't know it was him," Steve replied, gently. His gaze moving toward the floor.

"Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?" He yelled, his voice echoing in the chamber.

Steve sighed, before returning his gaze to Tony, "yes."

"And you've just happened to never mention that bit of information," Tony spat.

"I thought I was protecting you," Steve retorted.

"Protectingme," Tony huffed out, his voice level increasing with every word. " _Protecting_ me. You weren't protecting _me,_ Rogers. You were protecting _him_."

Steve shook his head, "Tony, I swear that wasn't my intention." Tony laughed, throwing his hands up in the air, turning his back on Steve. "What do you want me to say, Tony? I wasn't the only one that knew. I could give you and entire list of people who knew about this, all of them familiar with you. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who thought keeping it from you was the best option."

"Who?" Tony replied, his voice cold.

"That's not important."

"Stop fucking me around, Rogers. WHO?" He shouted.

Steve's jaw tightened, his eyes making contact with Bucky briefly before returning to Tony. "Fury, Hill, Nat, Barton, and me."

Tony screamed out, quickly turning the helmet to his suit back on and sending Steve careening backward with a blast from his gauntlets before turning and knocking the gun out of Bucky's hands. They all fought for several minutes before Steve stood in front of Tony, blood dripping from his face and hands.

"He's my friend," Steve pleaded.

"So was I," Tony replied coldly before punching Steve and throwing him toward the gaps in the wall. "Stay down," he hissed, "final warning."

Steve pushed himself to his feet, struggling to keep himself upright before raising his fists and staring at Tony. Bucky stared at him from where he was laying, Steve's stance reminding him of the scrawny boy who never backed down from a fight all those years ago. "I can do this all day."

* * *

Natasha sat on the floor in her cell, staring at the wall, the cuffs on her arms ripping at her skin from how tight they were clamped. She wasn't going to complain though, she was better off than Wanda was. She turned to look at Wanda's cell directly across from her in the circular room they were being held in. Her blood was boiling looking at what they'd done to her. She was in a straight jacket, with a shock collar wrapped around her throat, and shackles around her ankles. Natasha wanted nothing more than to tear the throats out of the people who had done this to her. She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall.

She had just closed her eyes when she heard a clinking sound coming from outside of their holding area. A small smirk spread across her face when she heard the sound again, along with muffled yelling coming from the areas around them. Natasha pushed herself up, moving closer to the glass wall of her cell, her eyes meeting Sam's diagonally from her. He had the same grin spread across his face. There were more muffled yelling sounds for another minute before it went quiet. Moments later, Steve and Bucky stepped into the light of the cell room, a wry smile spread across Steve's face as he looked at Natasha standing in her cell. She noticed the cuts along his face, and the bruises that were already fading away, but overall, he looked alright. His smile faded as his eyes moved down to the cuffs around her wrists, blood trickling lightly from the edge of them. He quickly walked up and swiped a key, releasing the airlock and sinking the glass separating them into the floor.

"I love you," he whispered as he cupped her face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her cheekbones and looking into her eyes before reaching down and taking her hands. His jaw clenched tightly, anger swirling around in his eyes as he looked at the cuffs. He grabbed the chain connecting the cuffs to the floor and ripped, snapping it and freeing her from where she stood. He then took her wrist in his hand curling his fingers slightly around the cuffs. Natasha winced at the pain from the cuffs digging into her arms. Steve bit his bottom lip, attempting to restrain himself as he watched her face contort. "Give me just a second, love," he said, his jaw setting again as he pulled against the cuffs, freeing one of her arms. He then quickly grabbed the other arm, ripping that cuff off. He looked down at the gouges in her wrists, the cuts bleeding more with the lack of pressure before his eyes fluttered closed. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, Natasha could see the restraint he was exercising to stay where he was and not go after the people who did this to them.

"Hey," Natasha whispered out lightly. Steve's eyes opened, pain pooled just below the surface as he looked at her. "I'm okay." Steve nodded his head almost imperceptibly, bringing her arms up to his face and gently kissing over the wounds before leaning in and giving her a small kiss.

"Let's get everyone out of here," he said, his voice low. Natasha led him over to where Wanda was, Bucky joining them seconds later with Sam close behind him. Steve let out a sharp breath looking at her. Her eyes looked sunken in, the spark in them seemingly gone as she looked back at them. She gave Steve a small smile as the glass door sunk into the floor. Bucky helped Steve to work her out of her bindings.

"I've got her," Bucky murmured, scooping her up into his arms and pulling her close to his chest. He half expected her to pull away from him, but she just nestled herself further into his chest, welcoming his arms around her.

It only took a few more minutes to get the others out of there, everyone working quickly, unsure of how much time they had before someone noticed that things were wrong. Bucky, with Wanda pulled tightly against him, led the group back to the Quinjet. Once on board, everyone spread out throughout it, Clint taking the job of piloting with Scott, while Bucky tended to Wanda in the corner. Sam sat near the front chatting with Clint and Scott about various things while Steve took Natasha to bandage up her wrists.

He hadn't said a word since they were on the raft, and nothing more than directions to her and the others. She gently took his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his. Once she pulled away, she leaned her forehead against his, "we all made our own choices, Steve. None of this is your fault."

"What they did to you…what they did to Wanda…to all of you… it's because of me," he choked out.

"And it's a choice I would make again," Wanda replied, Bucky helping to support her weight as they came around the corner.

"Wanda, I-" Steve started, only to be cut off by Wanda.

"Don't Steve. You would've done the same if the roles were reversed. We all know it, and that's why we're here."

Steve nodded and looked at everyone. A silence fell over the group as the weight of the past 24 hours weighed on them. "So, where do we go now?" Bucky asked, looking to Steve.

"Wakanda."

* * *

Steve walked with T'Challa through the corridors of the castle in Wakanda. They'd been there for about a week recovering from the past events. T'Challa and his younger sister Shuri agreed to help Bucky, as well as offered the castle as a home for the others for as long as they would like to stay. "Thank you for this," he said, a genuine smile coming across his face.

"Your friend and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace. It would be my pleasure," T'Challa replied. Steve nodded his head. They walked in silence for a few moments before T'Challa spoke again, "oh, your wife told me to have you meet her at the overlook whenever we were done here today. She said something about a dinner date?"

Steve chuckled, "that sounds like Nat."

"She also requested that you wear formal attire," T'Challa continued. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but T'Challa just shrugged his shoulders, an amused smile gracing his features. He walked Steve to a room before opening the door revealing a tux hanging to the side. "I don't know much about your wife yet, but she doesn't seem like the kind of woman you want to keep waiting." He gestured towards the tux before turning and walking the other way.

Steve shook his head and chuckled. _What are you up to, Nat._

He quickly changed before heading down to the overlook, not seeing Natasha as he approached the area. The overlook was beautiful, everything was illuminated from the sun lowering the sky, with leaves dancing on the trees as the wind gently blew threw them. He could see for miles as he looked out over the area.

"Hey man," Bucky said, clapping a hand on his shoulder and pulling Steve out of his thoughts.

"Hey, have you seen Nat? I-" Steve stopped as he turned to look at Bucky, who was also wearing a tux. "What are you doing?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed together and a small smile playing on his lips.

Bucky laughed, and patted Steve on the back once more before turning Steve around to face the castle again. He saw a small figure with firey-red hair walking toward him, Wanda's escorting her on one side, and Clint on the other. Steve could see the white dress adorning her body, as she closed in on them. He looked over at Bucky, (and Sam who had joined Bucky while Steve was focused on Natasha) to see his lips were turned up in a wry smile at Steve's sudden realization.

"Hey solider," Natasha said gently as she finally stood next to him.

"Nat, what are you-"

"Well, I did say I wanted to get married somewhere with a view," she teased, looking out over the horizon. When she looked back at him, her expression softened into a loving one as she looked into Steve's eyes. "I know you always imagined Bucky being there when you got married, so I figured why not get married again?" She replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

Steve stepped forward, cupping her face in his hands, and crashing his lips onto hers. Natasha hummed at the sensation, bringing her arms up to snake them around his neck.

"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to wait until I say you can kiss her," Clint teased. Steve laughed against Natasha's lips, gently tapping his forehead against hers once before stepping back from her.

"Sorry," he replied, blushing slightly, "I just had to get that out there."

Bucky chuckled and clapped him on the back, "it's just like you to be so impatient, punk." Steve looked over his shoulder and flashed Bucky a boyish grin.

"Alright," Clint interrupted, laughing slightly, "let's get started."

* * *

Author's Note: Fight scenes are hard, so I hope that you guys still like them. Please review, favorite, and follow! :)


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or Marvel.

Steve picked up his phone and sighed, Wanda and Bucky had both said that they would check in with him by the end of the day, but it was late afternoon in Brazil, meaning that it was already almost 9 p.m. in Wakanda.

"Stop brooding," Natasha called from the entrance to the bathroom, smirking at him as she disappeared back inside.

"I'm not-I just want to make sure they're both okay," Steve replied, opening up the messages app on his phone to make sure he hadn't missed them when they came in. He messed with the phone, his forehead creasing in a mixture of frustration and worry as he closed the app and opened it again, hoping that a message would magically appear.

"Steven Grant Rogers, you really are something else, you know that?" Natasha put her hand on top of the phone in Steve's hand, pulling his attention to her. "They'll be fine. They're both in Wakanda. They're together, and T'Challa and Shuri are watching over them. You've got to trust them."

Steve gave her a half-hearted smile and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her head. "I do. I just-I want to make sure they're both okay. They've been through so much, and I just worry-"

"Hey," Natasha whispered, cutting him off. She stepped back to look into his eyes, placing her hands on either size of his face, "what was it you once told me about how difficult it is to find someone with shared life experiences?" She gave him a gentle smile and ran her thumb over the apple of his cheek. He dropped his head forward, leaning his forehead against hers, and let out a deep breath. "I know you want them both to be happy, but you're going to have to dial back the 'overprotective dad' mode."

Steve pulled back from her, his eyebrows furrowed at her. "I'm not being overprotective," he argued.

"Right," Natasha replied sarcastically, playfully rolling her eyes at him. "Because it's not like you almost had a heart attack when they said they were dating." Steve opened his mouth to protest, but Natasha continued on, "or like you make them check in with us every night when we _should_ be enjoying our honeymoon." She raised her eyebrow challengingly at him, "or like you don't have the others watching over them as well."

Steve ran his hands through his hair and over his face, letting out a small groan as he threw himself down on the bed, "I don't want either one of them to get hurt, Nat."

Natasha laughed, sitting down on the bed next to his exasperated form. "I know you don't, and I don't either, but they _are_ adults. They can make their own decisions." Steve remained silent, his face still buried in the pillow he'd grabbed whenever he fell onto the bed. "Alright, Captain Mopey," she grunted as she grabbed onto his arms and yanked him upright, "we're here on our honeymoon, and I'll be damned if I let this new swimsuit go to waste." Steve chuckled a bit and ran his hand over her hip, "there's a private hot tub calling our name and I think it's about time we check it out." She raised an eyebrow expectantly at him.

Steve raised his hands in surrender, "alright, alright. I'll stop. You're right, I'm sure that they're fine. I should be focused on my beautiful wife." He pulled her in for a hug and gave her a sincere smile that quickly turned into a mischievous one, "now, what's this about a new swimsuit?"

* * *

Natasha leaned her head back against the side of the hot tub, relishing in the way that the heat seemed to take any residual stress out of her muscles. Steve had been in and out of the hot tub, alternating between sketching and relaxing with her. She could see him sitting in one of the lounge chairs, his pencil scratching furiously against the paper. It was pretty much a given that he was sketching her, but she really didn't mind. He _was_ quite pleased with the fact that she'd bought herself a bikini, something that she _never_ would've done if it wasn't for him helping her accept her scars.

As she watched him sketch, Natasha couldn't help the way her mind drifted back to their conversation earlier in the evening. It was sweet of him to want to protect their friends. It was pretty much a given that he would do anything for them. He's always thought of Wanda like a sister or a daughter and has thought of Bucky as a brother since before the serum, so naturally he wants to make sure that they're okay. He would always get so frustrated and worried when they wouldn't check in like normal. Really, he would get that way with any of them, and considering the situation that they're in, it's not an unfounded worry. But all the talk of Steve acting like a worried Dad had gotten Natasha thinking about their future, about the future of their little family.

She couldn't help the way that her heart flipped in her chest when she thought about how Steve would be if he had his own children. If _they_ had their own children. Naturally, he would do anything to protect them, would constantly be worried about them, but he would also be a phenomenal father. She could picture him throwing a baseball around with their son. She could also see their daughter having him completely wrapped around her finger (much like her mother) before she could even speak. She could just picture the way that Steve would react when they finally were old enough to start going on dates. _He would be an absolute wreck,_ she thought to herself, her lips curving upwards with the thought. However, the most surprising thing to Natasha wasn't the fact that she was having these thoughts, but the fact that she wasn't absolutely terrified by the idea.

It wasn't something that they'd ever really talked about. The others would tease them about it, joke that their children would inherit Steve's old-fashioned values, say that they would inherit Natasha's ability to make someone's blood run cold with a single look, but it wasn't something they'd ever sat down and discussed. It was obvious to Natasha that Steve wanted kids, even if he never said anything about it. Natasha figured he never brought it up because he didn't want to make her feel bad if she didn't. Honestly, if he'd have asked her years ago if she wanted children, she wouldn't have even entertained the thought, but then again, she never would've thought that she'd end up married to Steve Rogers, either.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Steve set down his sketchbook, flashing her a bright smile that she returned as he slid into the hot tub beside her.

"What would you say about us having kids?" Natasha asked after a moment. Steve had been fiddling with the controls on the side, but completely froze when the words came out of her mouth.

He stayed that way only for a beat before clearing his throat and messing with the controls once more. When he finally got the bubbles to kick back on, he settled back down on the bench. "I hadn't really thought about it that much." Natasha whipped her head to the side to give him a stern look, though she didn't really need to see his face to know that he was lying. He cringed slightly, bringing his hand up and running it through his hair (something Natasha noticed long ago he does whenever he's nervous). "I mean, I don't know. We're fugitives. We're kind of on the run from everyone, and in our line of work…" He trailed off. He was quiet for a few moments before he turned back to her his gaze almost apologetic as he looked at her. "I'd really like that," he whispered, "but only if it was something that you wanted too."

Natasha pursed her lips together, nodding as she took in what he said. He was right, they are fugitives, but it's not like they're going to be fugitives forever. Just like there's nothing saying that they _have_ to be Captain America and the Black Widow forever. They could retire, if they wanted to (though Natasha wasn't really sure what else would be out there for her if she did). Her mind drifted to Clint, he was able to have kids, to have a life outside of SHIELD and the Avengers. Maybe they could have that too. If anyone could make it work, balance being superheroes with being parents, figuring out everything that would come with that, it would be them. She met Steve's gaze again, a mixture of emotions swirling in his oceanic eyes. Steve's favorite smile appeared on Natasha's face, a smile of genuine happiness and content, as she replied, "I'd really like that."

* * *

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. I was having awful writer's block and couldn't figure out what I was going to do with this. I also started school again, so everything has been a little bit crazy with that. Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you're excited to see what comes next (I'm really excited to share it with you all)! I'm hoping that I will be able to post regularly on the weekends, but as we get back into the swing of school, it might be a little sporadic.

As always, please favorite, follow, and comment!


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

 _"Not now, of course," Natasha whispered in the dark to Steve later that night. The room was dimly lit by the moonlight drifting in through the open windows, highlighting the dips and curves of Steve's bare chest as Natasha traced her fingertips along them._

" _No, not now," he replied, kissing the top of her head, "but someday. When all of the running's stopped, and we can really settle down and be a family." Natasha nuzzled her head further into the crook of his neck, a warmth spreading through her body at the thought. "Hopefully soon," he whispered drowsily as he drifted off to sleep._

" _Hopefully soon," she agreed, a small smile painted on her lips as she allowed for the steady beating of Steve's heart to lull her to sleep._

* * *

Natasha peeked out of the bathroom door, checking to make sure that Steve was still asleep before flicking off the light and stepping into the room. She silently pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt, keeping one eye on Steve as she went. She smiled to herself as she watched his chest rise and fall. He'd gotten back from being gone for a few days on a mission late last night with Sam and Scott. When he got back to the castle, he practically collapsed into the bed beside her, giving her a quick kiss, and pulling her into his arms before he was fast asleep. Now, he was sprawled out across the bed, the sheets tangled around his torso and legs as he snored gently.

Natasha slid her tennis shoes on her feet and walked out the door, careful not to let their bedroom door make a sound as she latched it behind her. She felt a small pull in her stomach as she walked away from the room, as if every cell in her body was protesting the fact that she didn't kiss Steve before she left, something she _always_ does if she's the first to wake up in the morning (which isn't often considering Steve is typically an early riser). She walked silently through the halls of the castle, offering polite smiles whenever someone passed her (damn, Steve had really rubbed off on her). It was still fairly early in the morning, so it wasn't like there were very many people up and about yet anyway.

It had been nearly six months since the whole mess with the Accords. Six months that half of the Avengers had been living as fugitives from the world's governments. They'd done small missions here and there, but for the most part, they'd just been keeping a low profile. T'Challa had graciously allowed for Wakanda to be a base for their operations, and he offered it as a safe-haven for the team, even giving everyone their own rooms and access to everything Wakanda has to offer. It was nice having somewhere that they could call home, somewhere where they didn't have to constantly watch their backs.

She wandered through the halls, passing the rooms that belonged to her fellow teammates along the way. As she walked through the main foyer, she sighed at her reflection in the windows, pulling on the tips of her now blonde hair. She'd dyed it just before she went on her honeymoon in Brazil with Steve five months ago. It wasn't as polarizing anymore, but she still wasn't a fan of it. She continued on down the stairs, winding through the halls, and into the dining room before pushing open the door to the kitchen. She rummaged through the cabinets, looking for something to eat. It wasn't that there was a lack of food, it was just finding something that she wanted. She settled for grabbing a box of crackers and sat down at the little bar in the kitchen. She was just opening up the package when Wanda pushed her way through the doors.

"Hey," she chimed, her face lighting up when she saw Natasha. "I didn't expect anyone to be up yet." She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a carton of eggs. "Aren't you hungry for something more than crackers?" She asked, her eyebrows raised in curiosity, as she pulled out a pan to cook the eggs.

Natasha shook her head, taking another small bite of the cracker in her hand.

As Wanda cracked the eggs, she squinted her eyes at Natasha, her mind reeling. "There's something different about you," Wanda said, looking down as she whisked the eggs. Natasha tensed slightly but relaxed just as quickly.

"And that is?"

Wanda smiled, "I haven't figured that out yet, but I can sense it. It's just something about you."

Natasha laughed and twisted the bag of the crackers closed. She pushed herself away from the counter and put the crackers back in the cabinet. "Well, when you figure it out, can you let me know?"

"Definitely."

"I've got some errands to run, I'll see you later," Natasha called as she walked out of the kitchen. The doors swinging shut muffled the sound of whatever Wanda said as she left.

Natasha sighed and ran her hands through her hair before walking back through the hallways. She paused as she got to a split in the hallway, before taking the turn to the right. She walked slowly down the winding ramp, looking through the glass center as she went.

"Mrs. Rogers," a voice called as she stepped into the main part of the pristine lab, "what can I do for you?"

Natasha smiled at the young girl who stepped away from the project she was working on to greet her. "I need your help."

"It would be my pleasure," Shuri replied, flashing a bright smile.

"I need you to run some tests," Natasha replied, setting herself down in one of the seats nearby.

* * *

Steve walked along a beaten path back up to the castle. He'd woken up a couple hours earlier, finding the bed empty. He assumed Natasha had stepped out to run some errands and decided to get a run before looking for her. He glanced up toward where their bedroom sits, seeing Natasha's figure sitting out on their balcony, a book in her hand. Steve smiled and instantly began jogging, anxious to see her after being away for a few days with Sam and Scott.

He opened up the door and sauntered over to where Natasha was sitting, draping his arms over her shoulders. He placed a tender kiss to her temple, earning a content sigh from her.

"Hi," he whispered, his lips grazing along her skin.

"Hi," she replied, tilting her head back against his torso. "You're sweaty," she teased, shrugging out of his grip and standing up.

"Is that a problem?" He replied, pulling her flush against him.

Natasha hummed and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I suppose it could be worse." She winked at him before lacing their lips together in a slow, languid kiss. Steve groaned and brought his hand up behind her head, tilting to deepen their kiss. Natasha moaned into his mouth, allowing for him to lift her up and carry her over to their bed. He laid her down gently, moving his lips from her mouth to pepper kisses along the column of her neck.

"I missed you," he murmured against her skin.

"I missed you too," she breathed out, arching her neck at a particularly delicious kiss. Steve continued working his way along her body, his fingertips dancing along the hem of her shirt. "Wait," Natasha gasped out as he started to lift it. Steve immediately stopped, his eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and worry as he looked at her. Natasha smiled and ran her thumb along the crease in his forehead. "I have something for you," she whispered, moving to slide out from under him.

Steve moved to sit back against their headboard, his eyebrows raised as Natasha walked over to the dresser across the room and pulled out a wrapped box, one neat bow holding the pieces of the box together. Natasha brought the box to the bed and set it on Steve's lap. He looked at it for a moment before meeting her gaze once more. "Open it," Natasha said, a smile finding its way to her face. Steve smiled and shook his head, pulling on the bow to release its hold on the box. He lifted the top off and pushed the tissue paper aside. Inside the box was a small vibranium replica of his shield. He looked up to meet Natasha's eyes, waiting for her explanation. "I know the whole Captain America thing is kind of up in the air right now with us being fugitives and everything, but I figured if we ever do stop running, and if you ever do get your shield back, our child should have at least some idea how to use it."

Steve looked at her confused for a moment before his eyes grew wide, the realization setting in. "You mean-" he trailed off as she nodded her head, confirming it for him.

"I had my suspicions the last couple of days, but I had Shuri confirm it for me this morning," Natasha replied. "She also made the shield for me."

Steve let out an incredulous laugh, pulling Natasha into his arms, "we're going to have a baby!"

"We're going to have a baby," Natasha replied a smile plastered on her face, her heart flipping in her chest as she heard the words come out of her own mouth for the first time.

* * *

Steve laid awake in bed, Natasha's head nuzzled into his chest, her chest rising and falling gently with each breath. His mind had been racing every since he opened up the box, waves of excitement and uncertainty washing over him. He sighed and placed his hand over her still flat stomach, his heart swelling as he thought about their child growing in there.

"Hey little girl or guy," he whispered softly, careful not to wake Natasha up. "It's your Daddy." He smiled, hearing the words come out of his mouth. "Your Mommy and I are so excited to meet you." He paused, "I'm going to tell you a secret though, peanut, I'm kind of scared to death. I have no idea if I'm going to be a good Dad or not." He drew in a deep breath, causing Natasha to shift her placement on his shoulder. He waited for a moment until she settled back into her spot before continuing. "I already love you so much, and I promise you I will always protect you and your Mom. Aside from your Mom, you're already the best thing to happen to me." He smiled, his eyes fluttering closed as his drowsiness began to weigh on him. "I can't wait to meet you," he murmured. He placed a kiss onto Natasha's forehead and laid his head back against the pillow, allowing for daydreams about their future life to dance through his head until he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review, favorite, and follow!


	30. Chapter 30

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Natasha asked, hesitating by the door.

Steve took in a deep breath before nodding, "I think they should know, don't you?"

Natasha smiled as she walked into the room, exuding nothing but complete confidence as if this had been her own idea. "You nervous?" she sauntered over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and gently pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

"Well its been over a year since the last time that we even saw each other, let alone spoke to one another."

"I know," Natasha replied, kissing his shoulder once more. "It'll be okay though."

"She's right Captain," Shuri chimed as she walked into the room. "It will all be okay. Like I promised before, they won't be able to trace the call." She headed over to the holographic screens that she used for monitors. "If they try to trace it, I will know. I can block it from here, throwing them off. Stark is good, but I'm better." She wiggled her eyebrows at them, a teasing smile on her face. Steve nodded his head and exhaled a sharp breath. Shuri turned back to the screens, adjusting a few things before saying, "whenever you're ready, Captain."

Natasha stepped in front of him, running her hand down the length of his arm. He stepped out of frame and over beside Shuri, making sure that Natasha was set before giving her the go ahead. The line rang twice before Pepper's image appeared in front of her.

"Natasha!" Pepper squealed, her smile bright as she took in the sight of her former secretary and good friend.

"Hey Pep," Natasha replied, offering her a smile in return.

"How are you, are you doing okay?" Pepper asked, her tone was light, but Natasha could hear the slight worry in her voice.

"We're all doing fine, Pepper. You know us, it takes a little more than being fugitives to get to us." Natasha smirked at Pepper, a gesture that, admittedly, told Pepper that they really were doing okay, even more so than her words.

"Well it's good to hear from you," Pepper replied. "Give me just a second, I already told Tony to get in here, but he was in the lab, so you know how that is." She offered Natasha an apologetic smile before stepping out of the frame.

Natasha looked over her shoulder to meet Steve's eyes. He was standing with his arms folded over his chest and a small smile on his lips. She knew that he was nervous about this, but she also knew that he was excited, that even though he hadn't explicitly said so, he really did miss Tony and the others.

"Alright Pep, geeze, let go," Tony grumbled as Pepper pulled him into the room. "What is it that's so importa-" he cut himself off mid-word, seemingly not trusting his own eyes as he took in Natasha on the screen. "Hey Red," he said after a moment, his face fairly indifferent, though she could see in his eyes that he was relieved to see she was okay.

"Hey Tony," she replied, offering him a smile.

He looked over his shoulder at Pepper who was beaming from ear to ear. "You knew about this?" He asked, his tone was surprised, but not hostile, which Natasha figured was a win, all things considered.

"She said she wanted to talk to us something important, and I figured she never would've asked if that wasn't true."

Tony nodded and turned back to the screen, "so what's up?" He asked, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"Well," Natasha started, she felt the butterflies rising up in her stomach as she looked at them on the screen. She was tempted to look over her shoulder at Steve for support, but she didn't want to do anything to give away that he was there quite yet. Instead, she drew in a breath before allowing her excitement to show on her face. "Well, I wanted you to know that baby Rogers will be making an appearance very soon."

"WHAT?!" Pepper squealed, "Nat! I thought you couldn't-"

"Woah, I guess it would make sense that Rogers had some pretty powerful little soldiers, but that's, wow." Pepper slapped Tony on the shoulder earning a small "ouch" from Tony before they both turned back to the screen.

"I can't believe you're pregnant!"

"Actually," Natasha started, this time she did look over her shoulder to see Steve's encouraging smile as he watched her. "Actually, I'm not."

Both Pepper and Tony frowned and furrowed their eyebrows at her in confusion. "What do you mean you're not?" Tony finally asked after a moment.

"I mean, I was, but I'm not anymore." She replied, a proud smile making its way to her face. "Would you like to meet my son?" she asked, as she tried to ignore the way her heart beat faster when the words left her mouth. She still had yet to get used to the idea that she was someone's mother, but she had to admit that it was a welcomed addition to their life. An _incredibly_ exhausting addition (thanks to her son's apparent inheritance of not one but _both_ of his parents' serums), but also an insanely welcome addition to their lives.

Pepper and Tony were both so perplexed that all they could do was nod. Moments later, Steve appeared at her side, their newborn son nestled tightly against his chest. He handed him over to her, placing a gentle kiss on her temple before moving to step out of the frame. Natasha's arm shot out to stop him, wanting him to stay there with her. Steve hesitated for a moment before giving in and stepping closer to her side. It wasn't lost on her the way the two men seemed to focus on anything but each other, but neither one of them made a big deal about seeing the other.

Pepper gasped as Natasha pulled the blanket away from his face, "he's so handsome!" She grabbed a tissue off of the table next to her and began dabbing at her eyes, "Steve, he looks just like you!"

Even Tony looked a little choked up, looking at the three of them together, "that's one cute kid you've got. Congrats guys." He cracked a smile, even making eye contact with Steve long enough to nod at him.

"What's his name?" Pepper cooed, clearly itching to get her hands on the infant.

Steve looked down at Natasha who was gently smoothing the light blond hair on top of the baby's head. "James."

"Oh, I love it!" Pepper squealed in reply, "it's perfect! James Rogers."

"Well, that's not his full name. Steve insisted he needed a middle name, and once I heard his suggestion, I had to agree," Natasha said.

Pepper and Tony both furrowed their eyebrows as their looked at the pair. "And that is?" Tony asked after a moment.

"Anthony," Steve replied. His eyes were locked on the image of Tony trying to gauge his reaction. "James Anthony Rogers." Pepper let out a choked gasp as tears began streaming down her face.

"You- you named your kid after me?" Tony stammered out after several seconds of stunned silence.

"Nat and I agreed. If it wasn't for the Starks, I wouldn't even be here right now, and you're our teammate. We felt that it was fitting." Steve shifted, wrapping his arm around Natasha and pulling her close.

"I – thank you," Tony whispered. He blinked furiously, attempting to hold tears back.

"Pep, we were also hoping that you would be his godmother," Natasha said after a moment. "We really couldn't think of anyone better for the job."

"Yes, absolutely yes," Pepper shouted, tears running more furiously down her face in a mixture of excitement and love.

James let out a disgruntled noise and Natasha pulled him closer, adjusting the blanket around his face. A satisfied smile graced his cherubic features at the feel of his mother. Natasha looked up at Steve who smiled back at her, kissing her forehead.

"Thank you guys," Pepper choked out after a moment. "Thank you for sharing this with us. I know that things haven't been exactly good between everyone," Natasha felt Steve stiffen almost imperceptibly and noticed the flash of guilt in Tony's eyes before he moved his attention to something else in the room. "but I just – thank you."

"You're welcome Pep, everything else aside, you guys know you're as good as family to us," Steve replied.

Tony cleared his throat, before rubbing his hands on his jeans. "Thanks for calling and sharing your news guys. I'm happy for you, I really am, but uh- you know, I've got a lot of stuff to do. Someone's gotta run the show around here." He paused for a moment, hesitating slightly before quickly saying, "congrats again." A second later the call was disconnected.

Steve let out a sigh, his body sagging slightly against Natasha.

* * *

Steve stood out on the balcony attached to their suite, his hands digging into the railing. It wasn't until he felt the railing give from underneath his hands that he realized just how tightly he'd been holding onto it. He inwardly cursed, making a mental note to fix it up later in the day.

"What's on your mind?" Natasha asked, stepping out onto the balcony with him.

"James asleep?" He asked, holding his arm out for her to hug into his body.

"Mhm, out like a light," She replied, gladly sliding in next to him, "so what's bothering you?"

Steve drew in a breath, taking his free hand up to his hair, mussing it as he worked his fingers through it. "I was just wondering what it's going to take for everything to go back to the way it was. Between all of us. To be fair, I didn't think that things would be magically fixed between us with James being here, or us asking Pepper to be his godmother, or even making James' middle name Anthony. I didn't do any of that because I thought it would make things better. I wanted us to do it because it was what felt right, I just-"

"Hoped you would see things a bit more mended," Natasha finished for him.

"Yeah."

"It'll be okay Steve." She turned to face him, her hand running down his bearded jaw that he once kept so clean shaven. "It'll just take time. We'll be a team again someday. Things might never go back to exactly the way they were, but we'll make it work." She offered him a smile, her eyebrows raised ever so slightly, "we always do."

He returned her smile, leaning down to kiss her, "that we do."

* * *

Hi guys! I am SOOOOOOO sorry for the long absence! I have like a million excuses (most of them pretty mediocre, but still a factor).

1) I had an intense internal debate when writing this because I was having trouble deciding how much of Natasha's pregnancy to put in, if any. (there are 5 different versions of this chapter that have been written and deleted. All at different points of her pregnancy).

2) I'm really not super in love with this chapter, but I wanted to get SOMETHING out to you guys because I know it's been an eternity.

3) I'm in my last year of college (YAY!) and since I'm going to school to be a teacher, I'm in the middle of doing student teaching. It's EXHAUSTING, so trying to get the energy to write with everything else going on (and the million other things that I have to do), was just not happening for me.

Like I said, there are like a million other excuses that I could give you guys, but the rest are pretty mediocre.

Anyway, I hope that you guys like this chapter!

Please favorite, follow, and review! And, as always, thank you all so much for your support. You guys are ROCKSTARS 3


	31. Chapter 31

Author's Note: I was sad. So, I decided to remedy it with some Steve & James time! Enjoy!

* * *

"Come on little man, give Daddy a break," Steve pleaded as James continued wailing at the top of his lungs. "I know you miss Mommy. I miss Mommy too, but we can't just cry like this whenever she's not here."

Steve grabbed the plastic keys off the floor next to them and offered it to James. "Here buddy," he cooed, dangling them above James' head causing them to clack together. James stopped crying abruptly, momentarily entranced with the keys dancing above his head. Steve let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the moment of silence before James began screaming once more. "Yeah I thought so," Steve grumbled setting the keys to the side.

"Come on Jamie, you gotta work with me here." Steve picked James up out of the bouncer, holding him tight against his shoulder as he walked throughout the living room, carefully stepping over the slew of toys decorating the floor. He tried rubbing soothing circles on James' back, tried bouncing gently as he walked, just like Natasha does when James is inconsolable like this. He tried gently shushing him, offering him his bottle, trying the pacifier, everything, absolutely _nothing_ was working. Steve held James up eye level with him, careful to keep a tight grip with all the squirming he was doing. "Alright James," Steve said, his voice taking on its more authoritative "Captain America" tone. James continued crying but quit squirming, seemingly taken off guard by his father's tone of voice. "I get that you're unhappy, but you're just going to have to stop it. You're not hungry. I changed your diaper. You've had a bath. I've done everything I can, so now you're just being difficult." James looked at his father for a second, gulping in air before screaming even louder than he was previously. Steve dropped his head in defeat, pulling James back against his body and began swaying back and forth. "James, please," Steve groaned.

"Your kid? Being difficult?" Bucky called as he strolled in the room. "I can't imagine." Steve shot Bucky a glare as he turned around to face him. "You know talking to your baby like he's one of the guys from the Commandos isn't going to work, right?"

"You think you can do better?" Steve challenged. Bucky laughed, walking over to Steve and James.

He gently pulled James out of Steve's arms, "I think this little guy just needs his Uncle Buck."

"It's not going to work Buck," Steve replied dropping onto the couch behind him. "He's been screaming like this since he woke up this morning. He just wants Nat."

"Well, I think Uncle Bucky's the next best thing, don't you little man?" Bucky cooed bouncing with James in his arms. James looked up at Bucky, the screaming stopping and his breathing beginning to even out. "There, see? Uncle Bucky makes everything better." He shot Steve a smug smile as he continued to walk/bounce throughout the room.

"He's conning you," Steve called from the couch, his arm thrown over his eyes.

Bucky scoffed, "you're just upset because you don't have the magic touch, Rogers."

"Five," Steve said.

"Did you forget that I had a younger sister?" Bucky replied.

"Four."

"I used to walk her throughout the house just like this." Bucky looked down at James who was biting on his fist, eyes wide as he looked up at Bucky.

"Three."

"It's all about the technique Steve, babies love this stuff."

"Two."

"It's nothing against you. You'll get it in time. He's only 3 months old."

"One."

"You've just gotta-" Bucky was cut off by James who began fussing once more, starting off with little grunts of displeasure before switching back to full-on screaming. "Hey, hey, no. It's okay. Remember Uncle Bucky's got ya, you- James, come on buddy – don't –" James wailed at the top of his lungs nearly squirming his way out of Bucky's grasp as he pushed against his body.

"Told ya," Steve shouted over James' screams. He drew in a deep breath before pushing himself up off the couch and walking over to Bucky.

"Shut it punk. You must'a forgot to do something," Bucky furrowed his eyebrows together as he watched James. "You changed his diaper?"

"10 minutes ago," Steve replied.

"Did you try feeding him?"

"He ate half a bottle before spitting it up all over himself."

Bucky frowned, "did you give him a bath?"

"No Bucky, I left him covered in spit-up." Steve rolled his eyes, "yes, I gave him a bath."

"He doesn't want his pacifier?"

"Chucks it across the room any time you give it to him." Steve paused for a moment before continuing, "really the distance he can get with it is pretty impressive if it wasn't so annoying."

"How about toys?" Bucky replied, switching from bouncing to swaying in an attempt to soothe him.

"Doesn't want 'em."

Bucky looked down at James who was still furiously screaming before giving Steve a defeated look. "You've tried everything."

Steve nodded, clapping Bucky on the shoulder before giving him a half-hearted smile. "But hey, the bouncing thing was nice for a moment." Steve reached into Bucky's arms and grabbed James, "come on kiddo. There's gotta be something we can do to make you happy." He walked back into the living room, setting James back down in the bouncer before taking a step back. Both men stood over the unhappy baby, hands on their hips, their jaws set in a hard line as they tried to think of what to do next.

"Well someone's unhappy," Wanda said as she walked into the room her eyebrows knitted together in concern as she took in the scene in front of her.

"We've tried everything," Bucky murmured, stepping aside so Wanda could get a good look at James.

"I think someone just misses his Mommy," Wanda replied, bending down in front of the bouncer.

"You and me both, kid," Steve sighed. "Any suggestions Wan? Nat won't be back until later tonight, and I don't think any of us, him included, can handle him crying like this much longer."

Wanda thought about it for a moment before bolting upright. "Steve grab James, I have an idea!" She hurried off down the hall toward the master bedroom.

Steve quickly grabbed James out of the bouncer and followed after her. "Wanda what are you doing?" He asked as he watched Wanda rifle through Natasha's portion of the closet.

"I'm just looking for- here!" She pulled an old flannel that used to belong to Steve before Natasha commandeered it, off the hanger, holding it up to Steve.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at her, "I don't get it. How's that supposed to help?"

"Well he misses Nat, right?" Wanda started, walking across the room to the dresser. "She won't be home until later tonight, but that doesn't mean that she can't be here before then."

"Uh doll, that's exactly what it means," Bucky said from the doorway.

"I don't mean physically here," Wanda replied. She grabbed Natasha's perfume bottle off the dresser, spraying the garment a few times with it before setting it back down. "But maybe giving James something that reminds him of her will tie him over until she gets back."

Steve's face lit up as Wanda walked over with the flannel, "you think it'll work?" He asked, his voice laced with hope.

"Only one way to find out."

She handed the flannel over to him, everyone holding their breaths as Steve gently draped the clothing over James' body. He instantly stopped crying, balling the garment up in his little fists and pulling it up to his face.

"I think it's working," Wanda whispered, a bright smile on her face.

"No," Steve replied, "give him a minute. He's done this before."

Bucky hesitantly walked into the room, "five."

"Four," Steve continued.

"Three." Bucky stopped next to Steve, intently watching James' face for any signs he was about to start bawling again.

"Two," Wanda said.

"One," Steve whispered.

 _Silence._ Pure, blissful, silence. James looked up at his father, the article of clothing held tightly in his little fists, the tears already drying on his face.

Steve let out an exasperated breath, the muscles in his body finally relaxing for the first time all day.

"Holy shit," Bucky murmured incredulously. "It worked."

"Try not to sound so surprised dear," Wanda teased.

"You're amazing, doll." Bucky replied, wrapping his arm around Wanda and kissing the top of her head.

"Thank you," Steve murmured, the relief and gratefulness seeping into his tone. "Thank you so much." Steve carefully walked over to the bed, slowly sitting down on it, hyper-aware of any change in James' demeanor as he did.

"Well pal, I think our job here is done," Bucky said softly. "We'll leave you to it."

"Call us if you need anything Steve," Wanda whispered as they walked out of the room, pulling the door shut behind them.

Steve let out a sigh of relief as he looked down at his son. "This is payback isn't it?" He mumbled. "This is payback for all the times I did this stuff to my Ma, huh?" James flashed Steve a gummy smile and a delighted squeal as he shifted back against the headboard. Steve chuckled and shook his head, "yeah, I figured so."

* * *

"Steve?" Natasha called, peeking her head into the nursery. She furrowed her eyebrows when she flipped on the light and didn't see James laying in his crib. "Steve, I'm home." She called again as she stepped over the toys on the floor in the living room before heading down the hall to their bedroom. "Steve?" Natasha carefully pushed the door open, a wide smile finding its way to her face as she took in the sight before her.

Steve was sprawled out flat on his back, James laid on top of Steve's chest. Steve had his hand placed on James' back, both of them out like a light. Natasha hummed, quickly changing out of her catsuit and into her pajamas before crawling onto the bed beside them. She carefully leaned over, kissing James lightly on the head before kissing Steve. He hummed, his eyes fluttering open, a smile on his lips.

"You're back," he mumbled, his voice low and laced with exhaustion.

"Mmm," Natasha hummed, leaning down to give him another kiss. "I am. How are my two favorite men?" She asked.

"Tired," Steve replied, "but good. Better now that you're home."

Natasha laughed softly, running the palm of her hand over the top of James' head. "Steve?" She asked, her eyebrows knitting together as she looked at what was balled up in James' hands.

"Hmm?" He hummed, sleep beginning to pull him under once more.

"Why does James have one of my shirts?"

"Wouldn't stop crying," he mumbled. "Missed you." He sighed, his hand absently rubbing a gentle circle over James' back. "We both did."

Natasha smiled and kissed Steve once more. "I missed you guys too." She cuddled herself up against them, Steve moving his hand so she could place it on James' back, his hand falling protectively over hers. He was just about to fall asleep when Natasha spoke once more. "You're a wonderful Dad, Steve," she whispered.

Steve smiled, turning to kiss the crown of her head. "I love you, Nat."

"I love you too Steve," she replied, a satisfied sigh leaving her lips as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Please favorite, follow, and review!


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

Natasha flitted around the apartment grabbing box after box bringing them to the center of the room.

"Mamamamama," James babbled from where he was bouncing up and down in his pack n' play. James moved teetered over to the other end of the pack n' play, reaching for the picture of Steve and Natasha on their wedding day and held out a slobber covered hand at the photo. "Dadadadda," he squealed. Natasha smiled and looked over her shoulder, seeing him smiling back at her, his single tooth sticking out in the middle of his grin.

Natasha laughed and walked across the room to him. She picked him up and attacked his chubby cheeks with kisses, earning squeals and giggles from James who in turn gave her his own slobbery, open-mouthed kisses. Natasha smiled down at him, smoothing her hand over the light blonde hair that adorned his head. He looked up at her, his bright blue eyes shining back at her, his eyelids drooping slightly as a sleepy smile appeared on his little lips. _God, he looks so much like Steve._ James laid his head down on her chest, Natasha's hand smoothing over his back. She hummed gently as she rocked back and forth, feeling his breaths even out as he drifted off to sleep. Natasha walked him back to his room, laying him in his crib and kissing his forehead. "Я люблю тебя," she whispered as she gave him one last look before shutting his bedroom door and walking back out into the living room.

Natasha sighed as she looked at the mess of the room before her. She nodded to herself before she began working, pulling items out of the boxes, tearing off the protective coverings, and methodically hanging, pinning, and setting the items throughout the house. Once she was satisfied with the placement of those items, she quickly broke down the empty boxes before pulling another set of boxes out and going through the same procedure as before. Natasha put her hands on her hips and looked around the room, nodding to herself, a slight smile on her face as she looked at her handiwork.

* * *

Steve rushed down the hall toward their apartment, his excitement to see his wife and son bubbling higher in his chest with every step. He'd only been away for a few hours, helping Sam and Wanda clean up a small terrorist cell on the tip of Africa, but that still didn't stop him from missing them any less. He glanced at his watch, noting that James was probably down for a nap by now with the time of day, but he still stopped outside the door, hoping to hear James' squealing or Natasha singing to him in Russian. However, when he pressed his ear up to the door-

"Dammit," Natasha shouted. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Steve quickly put his key in the doorknob and threw the door open, "Nat?" He called. "Are you okay?" He quickly turned to face her after making sure the door was shut behind him. His eyes went wide looking at the state of the apartment. Natasha was sat in the middle of the floor, boxes of brand-new toys strewn throughout the room, discarded wads of wrapping paper in piles to her side, and one badly wrapped present laid next to her. Stockings were pinned near the tree, two large ones and one smaller one, each with their initials on them. Lights were strung throughout the room, twinkling against the garland she'd wrapped around everything she could. A small Christmas tree was placed in the corner though it was currently undecorated.

"Oh hey," Natasha said breathlessly, brushing the hair out of her face and standing up. She gracefully bounded over the mass of items on the floor and into his arms. She pushed herself up on her toes, pulling his lips to hers.

Steve smiled and brushed his thumb over her cheekbone. "Well hey to you too," he murmured, pulling her back in for another kiss. When he pulled away, he looked around the room once more, his lips tugging up at the corners. "Should I ask about all this or-?"

Natasha gave him a sheepish smile, as she stepped back into the mass of boxes. "I might have gone a little overboard," she said. Steve raised his eyebrows, his smirk widening as he continued to look throughout the room.

"A little?" He replied.

"It's just – I know how much you love Christmas. We haven't been able to actually celebrate it since we got married with being on the run and everything, and now we have a chance to and it's James' first Christmas, and I just thought that it would be nice to really get to celebrate." She shrugged and sat back down in the boxes. "But I can't figure out how to wrap these damn presents. I've been _trying_ to do it for hours now, and all I've got is this." She held up the badly wrapped present with a grimace on her face.

Steve shook his head, a small smile on his face as he stepped over the pile of boxes to join her in the middle. "Well, I suppose I could be persuaded to help with that," he replied.

Natasha smiled at him as she moved the boxes closer to them. "There's some more in our closet, but we don't have to do all of them tonight."

"Nat," Steve laughed, "you know that he's only six months old, right? He's not going to remember this."

Natasha leaned against his shoulder, "Like I said, I went a little overboard."

Steve shrugged, "well, it is our first Christmas as a family, after all."

Natasha hummed and looked up at him, "after we're done with this, I thought you and I could decorate our first Christmas tree together."

Steve smiled as he looked down at his wife. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before moving to kiss her lips, "nothing sounds better."

* * *

Author's Note: I wanted to be able to write Steve and Natasha's first Christmas, but obviously this wouldn't _actually_ be their first Christmas together. But I could still give them another type of first Christmas.

Sorry for the sporadic posting lately, but things have been insanely busy. I promise I haven't forgotten about you all or these stories! Thank you guys for sticking with me, I'm immensely thankful for you 3

As always, please leave favorite, follow, and review!


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

Buckle up, friends. We're headed into Infinity War.

* * *

"No, absolutely not, no," Bucky's voice rang out from down the hall.

"Buck," she heard Steve reply. She could tell just from his tone of voice he was fighting to calm Bucky down. Probably for his sake, but also for theirs. James was a year old now and getting him to take naps was a battle in and of itself. One that Natasha had the pleasure of fighting this afternoon and had been in the middle of when Bucky showed up at their door. She wasn't sure exactly what had Bucky so upset, but the two of them had been going back and forth for at least 15 minutes now.

She glanced down at James who had finally fallen asleep, a small smile turning up the corners of her lips. Natasha smoothed her hand over the blonde hair on James' head, tucking his blanket up to his chin, and placing a kiss on his forehead before turning up the sounds on the noise machine they'd bought him to help drown out the yelling and quickly pulling the door shut behind her. She sighed and leaned back against the door, taking a minute to breathe before walking into the chaos that was happening just down the hall.

"He won't even tell her what this is about. I'm telling you there's something fishy about this," Bucky argued.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked. Steve and Bucky turned toward her, Bucky's eyes already pleading with her to take his side. She noticed Wanda sitting off to the side, something that she hadn't picked up on from James's room because she hadn't said a word.

Steve sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Vision got in contact with Wanda. He wants her to meet him in Scotland tomorrow, but he hasn't said why other than it's important."

"There's something not right about this. Why now?" Bucky interjected.

"He didn't say anything else?" Natasha asked, turning her attention to Wanda. The girl met Natasha's gaze and shook her head. Bucky immediately started in again, his attention turned back to Steve. Natasha narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched Wanda's eyes track between the two men, the exhaustion evident on her face. "And what do you think?" Natasha gestured toward Wanda, cutting Steve off as he was about to attempt to calm Bucky once more.

Wanda swallowed, her attention focused on pulling one of the rings off of its place on her finger before sliding it back on. She stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. "I don't think it's something to be worried about," she said. Bucky huffed and began to interject when she continued, "It's Viz." She turned toward Steve and Natasha. "He wouldn't do something like that. He wouldn't agree to – lure us apart just so they could arrest us and throw us back in the raft." She sighed and turned back to Bucky. "If that's what they wanted, they would've done it long before now. It's been over 2 years James. Why would they choose now to come after us? Especially unprovoked."

"Wanda-" Bucky started.

"No, James, listen. Vision got in contact with _me._ None of them have ever done that before. Even Tony hasn't been able to, doesn't that say _something_ about the situation. And if he was able to get in contact with me in the first place, shouldn't we assume that he already knows where we are? How else would he have been able to? If the goal was to hurt us, to throw us in the raft and lock us away, why drag me out to Scotland to do so? Especially if he already knows where we are." She ran her hand down his flesh and blood arm, lacing their fingers together before bringing her free hand up to his face. "I know this worries you, but you don't need to be worried. Everything is going to be just fine. _I_ will be just fine."

Bucky sighed and dropped his forehead against hers, the tension ebbing from his body slightly. He took a deep breath before looking over her shoulder at Steve and Natasha. "You guys think this is a good idea?"

Natasha looked over at Steve whose arms were still crossed tightly across his chest. She could tell by the way his jaw was set and the slightly tension in his shoulders that he was still apprehensive about it. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. "There's going to have to be rules," Steve said tentatively.

Natasha nodded in agreement, "you stick close. You check in. And if _anything_ seems wrong, you get the hell out of there and lay low until we can get you."

Wanda nodded in agreement and looked back at Bucky once more. He nodded, a half-hearted smile on his lips. "I guess you better go get your stuff around if you're going to get there to meet him in time."

"You'll meet me back at my room then?" She asked as she moved closer to the door.

"Yeah doll, I'll meet up with you," he replied, leaning down to kiss her. She smiled up at him before giving Natasha and Steve a small wave.

Once she was out of the room and the door was shut, Bucky collapsed on the couch with a huff, his hand rubbing across his forehead. "You really think this is a good idea?" He murmured, looking to Natasha and then to Steve.

"We have to trust her," Steve said. "And she's right. It doesn't make sense for them to come after us now. Of all people, it wouldn't be Vision that would come after us."

Bucky nodded as he took in what Steve said.

"That doesn't mean that we leave her to fend for herself. We're not leaving her without an exit plan," Natasha replied. The two men turned their attention to her, "we drop her off, and we stick close by. Far enough that we don't compromise ourselves, but close enough that we can get to her if she needs us."

"Okay," Bucky responded, looking a bit more relaxed.

"You're staying here though." Natasha stared him down, his eyes going wide, the protest already bubbling in his throat.

"She's right," Steve interjected. "You need to stay here. If something _does_ happen, you need to be as far away from it as possible. Nat, Sam, and I can handle it." He glanced over at Natasha who was silently nodding in agreement, her face already set running through preparation plans. "Plus," he offered, a small smile finding its way to his face, "someone's got to be here to look after James, and you know there's no one we trust more than you."

Bucky sighed and ran his hand down his face before giving Steve a stern look. "You take care of her punk, okay?"

Steve cracked a smile, "you know I will."

Bucky gave him a half-hearted smile as he pushed himself up to his feet. "I know. I trust you." He hesitated for a moment before pulling Steve in for a hug. When he pulled away, he clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm going to go make sure she has everything and let Sam know he needs to suit up. When they're ready to go we'll come back by, and I'll get little man."

Steve nodded in agreeance a murmured a "see you later" as Bucky disappeared through the door. He let out a breath he wasn't fully aware he was holding and ran his hands through his hair. "We should get suited up," he said as he turned around to face Natasha. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion when he noticed she wasn't there. "Nat?" he called. He walked down the hall toward the bedrooms, pausing when he found the door to James' room cracked open. Silently pushing it open more, he saw Natasha standing at James' crib, her hand smoothing over his hair before trailing along down one of his chubby cheeks.

"Hey," he whispered, "we need to get moving if we're going to be ready to leave soon."

Natasha moved her gaze from James to Steve just long enough to nod before returning it to their sleeping child. Steve walked further into the room, the worry evident on his face as he came to stand by his wife. He smiled down at James, his hand moving to rub gentle circles along his back. "This is the first time we'll both be gone on a mission since he was born," she murmured.

Steve stalled his movements and offered her an understanding smile. "He'll be with Buck, the safest place he could possibly be. You know that Bucky won't let anything happen to him. Neither would T'Challa, Shuri, anyone else in the castle or Wakanda for that matter." Natasha nodded in agreement, but he could still see the fear just below the surface. "I'm worried too, you know?" He offered after a moment. She finally met his gaze, her eyes searching his face. "The last thing I want to do is leave him here with someone else, but Bucky and Wanda need us." He cracked a grin for a moment, his hand finding its way to the side of her face to cup her cheek. "He's trusting us with the most important thing in his life. We're trusting him with the most important thing in ours, and honestly, out of the two, he's got the easier job."

Natasha gasped out a laugh at that. The tears that she had been fighting to hold off threatening to spill over. In one swift movement, she was wrapped around Steve's torso, her head buried in his chest, and his arms squeezing tightly around her. He held her like that for a while, pressing kisses to the crown of her head and running his hands through her hair before she finally pulled away. She reached up and pulled his head down to meet her lips before allowing him to lead her out of the room.

The pair walked down the hall to their bedroom and Natasha immediately went over to the closet that stored their suits and weapons. Pulling it open, she paused, a solemn expression on her face as her eyes roamed over the items in there. She turned to face Steve who was gathering items from around the room. He met her gaze, concern quickly coloring his features.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said finally.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Nat, James is going to be fine. I promise."

Natasha shook her head, "I'm not-no, not about James. Yes, I'm worried about him, but it's not that that I'm talking about. It's-I can't explain it. I don't even think it's necessarily about Scotland. Just - this whole thing in general."

Steve exhaled, turning his eyes down to his hands as he sat himself on the edge of the bed, "you too then, huh?"

"I can't explain it. It's not like the feeling of going into a compromised mission or like when everyone we knew was trying to kill us. This is – it's somehow worse."

"We'll keep ourselves on high alert, make sure Sam is too. Whatever it is, we're prepared," he replied, the stubbornness in him trying to mask itself as certainty.

He met her eyes and she lifted her chin, attempting to restore her confidence, "we'll do a full suit up then. All weapons, full gear. Prepare for the worst."

They silently finished getting ready, both moving quickly to gather everything that they could possibly need. Steve rifled through his nightstand, trying to find his last glove before his hands hit the small object in the back. He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his hands around it and pulling it out of the drawer. He flipped the phone open, the screen still displaying the default background that came on it when he bought it. In the nearly two and a half years since the accords, it had never once rung. Never once had there been a text message on it. Still, as he looked at the phone, he couldn't resist opening up the messaging app, just to make sure he hadn't missed something. After seeing that there still wasn't anything there, he exited the app and flipped the phone shut once more. He was just about to place it back in the nightstand when he stopped, opting instead to slide it into one of the empty pouches on his utility belt.

"You about ready?" Natasha asked, standing in the doorway, James perched on her hip babbling away.

Steve quickly grabbed the glove out of his nightstand, sliding it onto his hand, and closing the drawer with his hip as he walked over to the pair. He placed a kiss on James' head before wrapping his arm around Natasha and pulling her lips to his for a fierce kiss, James squealing in between them in the process. She cocked an eyebrow at him as he pulled away, a smile finding its way to both of their faces. "Let's go."

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys!

I'm SO sorry for my extended absence on this story. The short version of the story is writer's block, school, and life.

The long version is that I'm in my last semester of college before graduation and there is just SO MUCH to do! And that has made me super busy. Also, I was so hesitant to write this chapter because I wasn't completely sure how I was going to piece it out, but I finally came up with something that I can be happy with, and hopefully makes you all happy, too. I also already have a good idea of how I'm going to write Infinity War, and I'm not totally emotionally ready to write it. With everything going on in my life right now, I'm not sure when exactly I will get to the next chapter of this story, but I PROMISE that I won't forget about it and will do my very best to get it out quickly.

On another note, this story has received such a positive response that it's INSANE. I'm so blown away by it, and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you guys have been so overwhelmingly positive about it. I never could've imagined that when I started writing this. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so very very much!

As always, please favorite, follow, and review! 3


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters

* * *

"Anything?" Natasha asked as she paced throughout the cabin of the quinjet.

Steve sighed, leaning closer to the monitor, the lines of his body tense as he watched the lights blinking on the screen. "Nothing yet. They're still in the same place they have been for the last 15 minutes."

"Should we – should we fly by? Just to make sure nothing's wrong?" Sam moved over to stand by Steve at the monitors. Steve ran his hands through his hair and turned away from the monitors, walking over to one of the seats in the cabin and collapsing on it.

"No," Natasha exhaled. "We'll just keep waiting. Keep watching. We have to trust her."

Everyone in the jet went quiet, the tension within the cabin nearly palpable as the minutes ticked by. An alarm suddenly went off, the monitors flashing. Sam whirled around, his eyes frantically searching the screen.

"It's not here." He clicked on the screen, hoping that it was just an error with the transponder, that there was a glitch of some kind.

"What? What's going on?" Steve asked as he rushed over to his side.

"Her signal - the transponder. It's gone. I can't find it. I can't find her."

"Move," Natasha hissed as she shoved the men out of the way. Her fingers flew over the keys in front of them, clicking on the screen when prompted, and attempting to manually reconnect the transponder. "It was shut off. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit," she yelled, slamming her hands down.

"Manually?" Sam moved closer to look at the screen.

"Dammit Wanda," Natasha whispered, pushing herself away from the screen. "We need to get in there. We know where she was last, we'll fan out. We've got the dark to cover us, so we can just start searching and we'll go from there." Rushing over to the pilot's seat, she began flipping on switches as she prepared the jet for take-off. She was just about to give the men orders to buckle up when an unfamiliar sound rang out throughout the cabin. "What the hell is that?"

"Is it – that's not an alarm for the jet, is it?" Sam asked as everyone looked throughout the cabin.

Steve paused for a moment, looking around him before he reached down to his utility belt. "No," he replied, holding up the ringing phone to them, Tony's name displayed on the small screen on the front.

* * *

"I thought that we had a deal," Natasha growled, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "You promised to stick close, check in, and fly under the radar. Not turn off your transponder and go wandering around."

"I know. I'm sorry. We didn't want to chance anyone finding us. Not with the accords," Wanda murmured.

"You could've been killed." Natasha fixed a disapproving stare on the girl before moving it over to where Vision and Pietro were sitting nearby. She felt Steve's arm settle lightly on her shoulder and released a nearly imperceptible shaky breath. She stepped forward and threw her arms around Wanda. Wanda's eyes widened for a moment before wrapping her arms around Natasha as well.

"How did you know?" Pietro asked.

"Banner," Steve replied, moving over to check on the wound on Vision's side.

"Bruce? I thought he-"

"Apparently he's back," Natasha finished.

"Where should we head to Cap?" Sam called from the front of the plane.

Steve looked over and met Natasha's eyes. "The compound first, and then home."

* * *

Steve glanced around the cabin of the jet. Pietro and Wanda were tucked away in one of the corners, Wanda was fast asleep with her head pillowed on his lap. Sam and Rhodey were chatting in the front of the plane. Bruce was talking with Vision; Already running through as many different solutions to getting the infinity stone out of Vision while still keeping him alive as possible.

"You doing okay?" Natasha asked as she sidled up beside him.

He turned to look at her, a small smile on his face. Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in to him. Natasha buried her head in the rough material of his suit and hummed at he carded his fingers through her hair. She pulled back to look at him, and Steve leaned down to kiss her on the forehead before moving to her lips. When he pulled back, he dropped his forehead against hers.

"Steve," she whispered, running her hand along the scruff of his beard.

"We're about to drop," Sam called from the front.

Steve ran his hand down her arm, lacing their fingers together and squeezing her hand. He continued holding onto it as he walked them over to the seats along the side of the jet.

"You let them know the situation?" Rhodey asked.

"They know the basics, we'll give them more information whenever we get there." Steve replied, his jaw set and his face pensive. "Dr. Banner, when we get there, you and Vision will be taken to the labs. Shuri's been briefed on what we need to do so she's already running ideas. We need to work quick. We don't know how long we have until they come back again."

* * *

"How big of a fight can we expect?" T'Challa asked Steve as the group stood in the labs.

Steve placed his hands on the table in front of them, his shoulders hunched over as he looked down at his hands. He sighed. "I'd say expect something bigger than anything we've ever seen before."

T'Challa turned to Okoye, "ready the King's Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, everyone you can." Okoye nodded, crossing her arms across her chest before rushing out of the room. T'Challa stared at Steve for a moment. "I'll leave one of my best behind, along with my mother."

Steve shook his head, immediately pulled from his thoughts. "What? Why?"

"Your son. You are worried about him. Ayo is one of the best, she will stay. Make sure he is safe. Protect him. My mother will be happy to care for him. Make sure he has what he needs," T'Challa offered, moving to clasp a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"You've done so much for me and my family. For all of us. More than I could ever repay you for," Steve's voice cracked at the end as he met T'Challa's eyes.

"We've been happy to Captain. Now go, be with your family. I'm sure we'll know when it's time."

* * *

Steve walked in to the apartment, the door thumping quietly behind him. He could see Natasha standing on their balcony, James held tightly in her arms.

"Everything squared away?" She asked as he broke the threshold onto the balcony.

"As much as it can be not having any idea what we're up against," he replied. James squirmed in Natasha's arms, reaching his little arms out for Steve. Steve smiled and grabbed him, situating the child so that Natasha could keep her arms around him as well. "T'Challa is leaving one of the Dora Milaje behind for James, and the queen mother will also be taking care of him."

Natasha hummed, her fingers softly carding through James's hair. He looked down at them, noticing the tears threatening to spill over in Natasha's eyes, and feeling his own sitting right below the surface. He kissed James's forehead, desperately pulling both him and Natasha closer to him.

"We're going to be okay," Natasha said. Her voice left no room for doubt.

Steve nodded, exhaling sharply. "We will."

Moments later there was a knock at the door before Ayo entered the room with Bucky, Wanda, and Ramonda following close behind.

"Something's entered the atmosphere," Bucky explained.

Natasha and Steve both kissed on James, hugging him tightly and whispering how much they love him. They were about to hand him to Ayo when Bucky reached out and grabbed him first, doing the same as they did with Wanda joining it. When they were done, they handed him over, Steve and Natasha pausing at the door, hesitating before shutting the door behind them.

* * *

Natasha pushed herself up off the ground, her eyes frantic as she looked around her. _We lost,_ she thought to herself. She saw T'Challa reaching to help Okoye up and suddenly disintegrate before both of their eyes. The screams of the people around her, of _her friends_ screaming out for one another filled her ears. _Steve_. Her mind raced as she took off running, white hot fear running through her veins.

"Steve," she screamed as she entered the clearing. She sprinted to him, sliding on her knees next to where he had collapsed on the ground next to Vision's body. She grasped his face in her hands, her eyes wide, afraid that if she blinked, he would disappear.

"Nat," he choked out, clinging onto her as if he depended on her to keep him grounded. Neither one of them moved for several minutes, the only sign of time passing in the decreased screams around them. The shock was just beginning to wear off, the rest of the survivors making their way into the clearing, when Steve suddenly went rigid. "Oh God," he murmured.

"Steve?" Natasha croaked, pulling back from him as she felt his heart race increase.

"James," he whispered.

Natasha felt her blood run cold, the both of them moving before either one of them had even thought to move. The pair of them ran, jumping into one of the carriers that had been taken down to the battlefield and instantly taking off toward the castle.

The castle was eerily quiet as the pair rushed through the halls. A few survivors wandered here and there, but the loudest sound was the pairs footsteps echoing off the walls. Steve reached the door first, swinging it open with enough force that it came off its hinges.

"Ayo? James? Ramonda?" The pair called simultaneously as they entered the space. They could see Ayo's spear laying on the floor, the angle and placement of it suggesting the worst.

Steve swallowed harshly and grabbed Natasha's hand as they made their way closer to the pack n' play that was placed in the middle of the room. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment before walking with her over to it. A choked sob came out of Natasha as Steve's eyes flitted down to the pile of dust in the middle of the crib. A pained breath made its way into his lungs as his arms flew around Natasha, clutching her tightly as the pair of them sunk to the floor, neither one caring about who heard as they both fell apart.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry.

Please feel free to yell at me.

Favorite, follow, and review.


	35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or these characters.

* * *

Natasha gasped, her eyes fluttering open as she willed herself into consciousness. Laying there for a few moments, she focused on calming her breathing and the feel of Steve's arms wrapped around her as she fought to still her thoughts. She laid there for several minutes before sighing, resigning herself to the fact that her nightmares weren't going to allow her to fall back asleep. Unable to lie there any longer, she untangled her arms from Steve, who appeared to be sleeping even though she knew he was awake. He hardly slept anymore, seemingly too terrified to allow himself more than the bare minimum he needed to keep going. Laying with her throughout the night was more for their sanity than anything else. They needed the reminder. Needed the embrace of one another to remind them that they were alive. To remind them that they were okay. Some days it seemed to be the only thing holding their fractured pieces together.

"I'm going to the gym," she murmured as she grabbed her clothes out of the drawer. "Are you going to come with me?"

Steve hummed an acknowledgement and sat up on the edge of the bed, "Probably just going to go on a run."

Natasha quickly worked her fingers into a French braid as she turned and looked at him. "Alright. I'll either be in the gym or the armory. You'll come get me, right?"

Steve nodded as he walked over to where she was standing. He looked down at her, offering her a gentle smile as he ran his hand along her cheek. "Of course. 8 o'clock." Leaning down, he laced their lips together for a moment. "Have a good workout."

She turned the corners of her lips up as she turned to walk away. "You too."

"Hey Nat," Steve called, stilling her. She turned to look at him, her eyes immediately noticing the thinly veiled terror sitting just beneath the surface. "I love you."

Natasha walked back over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his midsection. "I love you too," she said into his chest, her words muffled by his warm skin. She could feel his heart racing as he squeezed her back, his hold just bordering on too tight. She pulled back just enough to look up at him. "I'll see you at 8, okay?"

Steve swallowed thickly before attempting to smile at her, "okay." She swiped her thumb over the apple of his cheek before leaning up and pecking him there.

She could feel his eyes on her back, her own heart beating slightly faster than it was before as she made her way out of the door of their apartment.

The halls of the compound were familiar. She'd spent plenty of time there prior to everything with the Accords, and now, with it having been their home for the last 6 months, it was second nature to allow her feet to lead her toward the gym. As she walked the darkened halls, she kept her focus on what she would do in her workout, determined to distract herself from the eerie quiet of the compound. A place that was once so full, with people moving about at all times, was now nearly empty aside from the handful of Avengers who had survived and made their way back there after the snap.

They'd tossed around the idea of staying in Wakanda after the snap. With T'Challa, Ramonda, and Shuri gone, it seemed like the least they could do to help them rebuild. M'Baku quickly took over, rallying together the people of Wakanda, the survivors, and beginning to rebuild. Trying desperately to create a new normal. It just didn't feel right to stay. Especially not for them. Not when they were determined not to give up until they had gotten everyone back. M'Baku supported them and pledged anything and everything Wakanda had to offer in order to get everyone back, but it didn't feel right to stay there.

It was Rhodey who suggested everyone go back to the compound. Tony had disappeared along with the others when everything happened and whether that was because of the snap or something else, he wasn't going to be using it any time soon. So, they'd all packed up. Made the journey back to the compound and set up a headquarters, fallen into some sort of routine as the days passed. They took turns following leads with Bruce who worked tirelessly trying to find some sort of a solution. The meetings to discuss the findings that had started out happening every day were becoming more sporadic. No one said it, but their faith that they were going to find _something_ to get everyone back was dwindling more and more with every failed attempt.

Natasha grunted as the punching bag swung back at her, catching her off guard and hitting her in the side. Growling inwardly, she planted her feet and swung her arm with as much force as she could muster. As her fist connected with the bag, she felt the dull ache in her muscles, all coiling tightly as she worked over the bag. She wasn't quite sure how long she'd been down in the gym, but the ache of her body added to the way that her sweat soaked through her clothes, coupled with the fact that the sun had risen and was now illuminating the gym told her that it had to have been a couple hours. She took one last swipe at the bag before grabbing her water bottle and collapsing onto the nearby bench.

Glancing at the clock, she noticed that it read only 6:45 which meant that she had plenty of time to go to the armory before Steve would be there to get her. Ignoring the voice in her head telling her that she couldn't keep running herself like this, she rose from the bench and headed that way. This was something that she'd been doing a lot lately. She always trained hard, but this was a new level. She'd lost track of time while training before, though not in the way she was now. If it wasn't for Steve or the other Avengers needing her help and checking in on her, she could lose entire days thinking that only minutes had gone by.

Bruce had called it dissociation when she off-handedly mentioned it to him one night while they were up working a lead. He said that it was likely due to everything that had happened. Not just with the Mad Titan, rather the combination of _everything_ that had happened in her life. He offered her advice on how to cope with it, urged her to talk to Steve about it, and encouraged her to join some sort of support group. She'd appreciated his advice but had yet to really do any of the things that he suggested. And despite his thoughts that this was her avoiding coping with everything, she knew that she was coping.

The panic every time Steve was out of her sight had stopped, though it was something that was constantly in the back of her mind. The white-hot rushes of fear and breakdowns that came with it when Steve was more than a minute late collecting her from the gym had pretty much stopped. The foreboding that everyone she had left could disappear in another wave at any moment had subsided for the most part, as well. She was coping.

 _With everything except for the loss of James._ Her thoughts rang out, mimicking Bruce's words. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes welled up with tears as she squeezed the gun tighter in her hands. Her heart ached in a way she didn't think was possible before. While she'd begun coping with everything else, James was something that she refused to move on from. The driving force on why she and Steve refused to give up on getting everyone back. What urged them to keep pushing everyone else as well. She still had flashes of panic when she forgot where James was. Still found herself setting out enough food for the three of them when cooking.

She gritted her teeth as she fired off the pistol in her hand rapidly, advancing on the target at the end of the stall as she did. She fired one last time at point blank on the target before allowing the gun to slip from her hand and clatter to the floor. Her chest heaved as she willed herself to keep breathing, the tightness in her chest threatening to pull her under as she reached down to pick up the gun. As she was walking back to put it up, Steve appeared in the doorway, his arms crossed tightly against his chest as he looked at her. He gave her a half-hearted smile as she placed the back in its spot.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah," she responded, her voice barely above a whisper.

Taking her hand in his, he laced their fingers together and lead them down the hallway back toward their apartment. He opened the door, and they made their way down the hallway before stopping outside of the closed door just across the hall from their bedroom. Natasha drew in a breath as he swung it open. The sun reflected off of the bright colors of the room and Natasha's chest constricted once more as her eyes roved throughout it. Steve unlaced their hands and wrapped his arm gently around her shoulders. He allowed them to stand there for a moment before ushering her into the room and leading her over to the plush rocking chair. She stood there for a moment as he reached into the crib and grabbed the slightly tattered teddy bear that was laying in there. Handing it to her, she held it to her body as Steve took a seat in the chair. Natasha waited for him to get situated and when he held his arms out to her, she climbed atop his lap, taking a moment to get situated herself.

It had been there when they returned. The room that was once Steve's art studio had been refurbished, brandishing everything that they would need for James. Natasha felt sick the first time that she saw it. Sick for the fact that the only thing of James' that they'd brought from Wakanda was his bear. Sick for the fact that Tony had thought to have it put in for them. Sick for the fact that neither one of them were there to see it.

Steve carefully grabbed the teddy bear from her arms and put it more in between them as Natasha leaned her head in the crook of his neck.

"You good?" He murmured, his voice rumbling low in his chest. She exhaled and nodded. "You want to start or do you want me to?"

"You," she replied. She half-heartedly smiled, "you're better at it than I am."

Steve smoothed his hand over her hair and turned his head so that he could press a kiss to her forehead. He drew in a deep breath before clearing his throat. "Hi Jamie, it's Daddy. Mommy's here too."

Natasha squeezed her eyes shut, the tears that were threatening to fall earlier made their way back to the rims of her eyes.

"We miss you so much, buddy," he said, his voice cracking slightly at the end. "We're still working Jame. Everyone's still working. Uncle Thor, Uncle Bruce, Mommy, me. We're going to get you back, okay? We promise. We're not going to stop until we get you back." His voice had slightly more conviction now, the fight coming back into his body. "Until then, I'm sure your Uncle Bucky is taking good care of you, your Aunt Wanda and Uncle Sam, too. Probably spoiling you rotten."

He continued talking, sharing bits about his day, things his uncles had said, their next plans for getting everyone back. When he was done, he looked at Natasha who had buried her face in his shoulder once more. "We love you so much James. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. You be good. Daddy loves you."

Natasha drew in a shaky breath her voice muffled slightly by Steve's shirt, "Mommy loves you, too."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, both clinging to each other. Steve's hand carded through her hair, smoothing it down, and brushing it behind her ear. Kissing her on the temple, her murmured a quiet, "ready for breakfast?" against her skin. She nodded in response, slowly unfolding herself from her position on him and moving over toward the crib to place the bear back down.

Steve stood, walked over to the door and waited for her as she stared down at the crib. Deciding to give her a moment, he went off to prepare their breakfast, working silently and focusing on the task at hand. When it was done, he called her name to tell her breakfast was ready. After another couple minutes had passed and he still hadn't heard or seen her, he went off to look for her, finding her in the same spot where he'd left her. "Natasha," he said gently. She stood as still as stone, unmoving. Her eyes simultaneously fixated on the crib and nothing at all. "Natasha," he repeated more forcefully.

He watched as her jaw clenched briefly before she turned to meet his eyes. Her eyes were burning with rage and sorrow as she stared back at him. He felt his chest pull as he looked at her. Cautiously, he took a step forward, "Nat, please talk to me."

"We have to be done, Steve."

His eyebrows knitted together, his heart beginning to race. "What do you mean?"

Natasha shook her head, letting out a rueful laugh. "I mean, we need to retire. I can't-we should've done it when James was born. We should've been spending time with him." She swallowed hard, her eyes brimming with tears. "I mean, God, Steve, were we even good parents?"

"Of course we were," he replied, moving forward to wrap her in his arms. "We-we made mistakes, yeah. But we were good parents."

"I can't do this, Steve. I can't – we have to retire. We have to get him back, and we have to retire. We can live out by Barton. Hide away. Not be Captain America or Black Widow anymore. Just Steve and Natasha Rogers with our son." She paused for a moment offering him a tearful smile, "maybe James could even have a brother or sister."

Steve smiled back down at her, pulling her hair off of her cheeks where it had gotten stuck from her tears. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Natasha ran her hand down his cheek, the solemn look returning to her eyes. "Please, please promise me. Pass the shield to Bucky or Sam. Please, Steve."

Steve sighed, wrapping her tighter in his arms. He was quiet for a moment before she felt the rumbling of his chest against her cheek. "I promise, Nat. You know I'd do anything for you. Anything for James. We'll give it up. I promise."

* * *

Author's Note:

1) I'm sorry this was so sad, but it's been in my mind for a long time now, so it came out. Also, I'm hoping that this chapter conveyed everything that I was wanting it to.

2) There should be another chapter of Toeing the Line soon, it's about half-way done.

3) I'm seeing Endgame on Thursday this week, SO depending on how it goes will decide whether or not I follow canon with the rest of this story. I'm leaning more toward ending it on my own terms anyway, though Endgame may influence how we get there. (Also, I'm not emotionally prepared for Endgame).

4) I'M SO CLOSE TO GRADUATION! I'm hoping that after graduation, I'll be able to crank out the rest of this story and move on to some other projects that I've been wanting to do!

I think that's everything I wanted to say, soooo... As always, please favorite, follow, and review! 3


End file.
